
m: 



Auction Bridge 



Under i 

Fhe New Count 



1 






Florence Irwin 



Mm 

m 





^^^^ 



By Florence Irwin 



The Fine Points of Auction Bridge 

The Development of Auction Bridge under 
the New Count 



The Development 

of 

Auction Bridge 

under 

The New Count 



By 

Florence Irwin 

Author of "The Fine Points of Auction Bridge'* 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York and London 

XTbe 1knickctboc\{ct press 

1912 



^^^^i 






Copyright, 1912 

BY 

FLORENCE IRWIN 



Ube ftnlckerbocber press^ l^ew l^orft 



^C!.A330li: 



PREFACE 

To an analytical mind, the changes wrought 
in Auction by the New Count are very marked 
and very fundamental. The entire basic prin- 
ciple of sane bidding and sane doubling has 
been altered; methods which were formerly 
sound are now both unsound and futile. 

I find that there is great demand for a book 
that will simply dissect these changes without 
forcing its readers to wade again through pages 
of description of the game itself. This, with 
its laws, I have already fully discussed in my 
previous book. The Fine Points of Auction Bridge, 
a thorough knowledge of which is presupposed 
in these pages. 

Portions of this volume have already appeared 
in the New York Times, dji6. 1 have been strongly 
urged to issue them in a more permanent form. 
The test-hands, especially, have all awakened 
lively interest on their original appearance. 

I must remind my readers, once more, that 
poor Auction is a bore to one*s associates ; fair 

iii 



iv Preface 

Auction is but little better; good Auction makes 
for wide popularity; and expert Auction is a 
rare delight. To be an expert player, is to be 
in constant and unceasing demand. 

F.L 
Hastings-on-Hudson, 
October, 191 2. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I Changes Necessitated by the New Count. 

The Opening Bid i 

II On Opening Bids of More than One . i6 

III Subsequent Bids 22 

IV The Double 40 

V The Club Convention .... 63 

VI Changing a Double to a Bid ... 70 

VII Throwing away a Hundred Aces . .82 

VIII Queen-Suits 89 

IX The Passing of No-Trump ... 95 

X Subtlety versus Obviousness . . .106 

XI Risky Bids 116 

XII Penalties 122 

XIII Some Faults of the Average Game . 132 

XIV Don'ts 139 

XV Remember that; . . . . .142 

V 



VI 



Contents 



PAGE 



Test Hand No. i 
Test Hand No. 2 
Test Hand No. 3 
Test Hand No. 4 
Test Hand No. 5 
Test Hand No. 6 
Test Hand No. 7 
Test Hand No. 8 
Test Hand No. 9 
Test Hand No. 10 
Test Hand No. ii 
Test Hand No. 12 
Test Hand No. 13 
Test Hand No. 14 
Test Hand No. 15 
Test Hand No. 16 
Test Hand No. 17 
Test Hand No. 18 
Test Hand No. 19 
Test Hand No. 20 
Two-Handed Auction 



Contents vii 

PAGE 

''Royals" or "Lilies"? 193 

Card-Sense . . 195 

The Necessity for a Universal Standard of 

Bid and Double 199 

The Laws of Auction Bridge . . . .203 
Etiquette of Auction Bridge .... 226 



The Development of Auction 
;e under the 
New Count 



Bridg( 



CHAPTER I 

CHANGES NECESSITATED BY THE NEW COUNT; 
THE OPENING-BID. 

A YEAR of the New Count has revolutionized 
Auction. As is always the case, the necessary 
changes grew more and more apparent as time 
went on. At first, we realized merely that the 
closer proximity of the suit-values made for 
better bidding and more perfect balance. But 
the differences are more radical than that. 

Chief amongst these is the change in the 
opening-bid. Under the new count, every bid 
should he a make (except, of course, *'one 
spade*'). In other words, when you bid a 
suit, you must be able to play it. 

Under the old count, no-trump was the only 



2 TKe Opening-Bid 

valuable suit, save hearts. It was impossible 
to establish a heart-make, between partners, 
unless good hearts were dealt them. But it was 
entirely possible to establish a no-trump by 
information gleaned on the various rounds of 
bidding. For instance, if you held the ace-king 
of clubs with one small card, or the ace and three 
or four small, you would bid ''a club''; this did 
not mean that you wanted to play clubs; it 
meant that you commanded clubs and that your 
partner might use that information as a help 
to a possible no-trumper. You were practically 
sure that your partner would not raise your 
club-bid very high, — the suit was too low in 
value to tempt him to do that ; instead he would 
use the information to establish a no-trumper 
if possible. In other words, you could hid "a 
club ''when you were unable to play a club, because 
you were practically sure that your bid would 
neither stand nor be raised; it would be changed. 
You had simply ''shown suit'' as an invitation 
to no-trump. 

Under the new count, conditions are quite 
different. No-trump is worth less, and the 
other suits are worth more, than formerly. In 
addition to this, we have a brand-new suit that 
is a very tempting and valuable one. Con- 
sequently, no-trump is neither desired nor bid, 



THe Opening-Bid 3 

as frequently as formerly. It is astonishing to 
note the decrease in the proportion of no-trump 
hands. And, to me, it is most refreshing. 
''Variety is the spice of life, '' and no-trump was 
growing a bit monotonous. 

For the reason that no suit is now beneath 
notice, your partner will allow your suit-bid 
to stand, or will raise it when it becomes neces- 
sary, in place of changing it to no-trump. It 
follows, therefore, that you must be able to 
play it when you bid it. Ace and three or four 
small would be a sorry club bid or diamond bid, 
under the new count. Formerly it was good as 
an ''invitation to no-trump.'' Now it is mis- 
leading and worthless. 

A bid should be a make. Don't misunder- 
stand this, and think it will allow you to go 
back to yovir old Bridge makes on jack-suits 
and ten-suits, provided they are sufficiently 
long. You positively cannot bid a suit on the 
first round, unless you hold the ace, the king, or 
(possibly) the queen of that suit. No jack-suits 
or ten-suits may be bid on the first round, unless 
in some very unusual and critical situation. 
Even queen-suits are barred by the most con- 
servative authorities. I consider bids on queen- 
suits perfectly permissible provided the suit runs 
to great length, and the hand holds something 



4 XKe Opening-Bid 

beside trumps, — such as side-aces, or ruffs. I 
will devote more space to the subject of queen- 
suits a little later on. 

There are players so conservative that they 
claim that you should never make an opening- 
bid in a suit unless you hold the ace, or the king- 
queen. With this, I do not concur; I think that 
by such over-carefulness, you lose many chances 
to make excellent bids and to give your partner 
information that will enable him to go game in 
the hand. 

Your suit should certainly be headed by one 
of its three highest cards, and it is infinitely to 
be preferred that that card should be the ace or 
the king; yet I do not see why you need hold 
both the king and the queen. King-jack-ten 
and two or three small, or even king-jack (or 
king-ten) with three or four small, is a perfectly 
good opening-bid. 

You must hold, then, the ace, the king, or the 
queen of your suit, — but you must hold something 
else beside, A bid, to be safe, should come to 
seven points; that is, when you count two points 
for each honor and one point for each plain card, 
the sum of the points should be seven or more. 

This ''point'' system of counting a hand is 
invaluable; before I go further, I will explain 
it more fully. 



TKe Opening-Bid 5 

In every suit there are eighteen points; two 
points each for the five honors, — ace, king, queen, 
jack, and ten, and one point each for every other 
card in the suit. You must not bid on a suit, 
on the first round, unless you hold its ace, king, 
or queen; and you must not bid on it, even then, 
unless the suit will add up to seven points. An 
occasional six-point bid may be tolerated, if the 
occasion demands it; but a safe bid must come 
to seven, and a queen-high suit should be even 
more. A six-point make is always light, and 
should never he made unless the suit holds the ace 
and another honor, or the king-queen. Even 
then, the hand should have outside strength- 
A ruff cannot be considered outside strength 
in a four-trump suit, — the hand is too short to 
take a ruff; and all six-point suits are four-card 
suits, for two of the cards must be honors. 
These two honors will count four points, and 
that leaves but two more points for plain cards. 
To bid on a six-point suit, therefore, you must 
hold outside aces, or guarded kings. 

No bids are permitted on three-card suits 
even though all three cards are honors. You 
might have to play the hand with ten trumps 
against you. Seven points or more, then, for a 
safe make, and six points if the occasion makes 
it absolutely necessary ! 



6 TKe Opening-Bid 

Now, remember, the moment any one makes 
a bid in a suit (whether that suit stands as 
final or not) , allow for seven points of that suit to 
be in that hand. Count your own points, and 
you can get an approximate idea of the holdings 
of the other two players. When Dummy goes 
down, you will have but one hand at which you 
will have to guess. 

Always remember that the person who first 
bids on the suit may have more than seven points, 
but he probably has not less. Suppose the dealer 
opens with **a heart,'' and you yourself hold: 

Hearts — ^Jack, lo, 6, 4, 3. 

Allow seven heart-points to the dealer; your 
own hand holds seven more. That makes 
fourteen points out of eighteen. There are, 
therefore, but four heart-points divided between 
the other two hands — not four cards, but four 
points. If either of those hands holds a king 
or a queen of hearts, it counts for two points, 
and reduces the possible cards to three. When 
Dummy goes down, notice his heart-points and 
make your own deductions as to the fourth hand. 

Of course the dealer may have held more than 
seven points for his original bid. Also he may 
possibly have held less; this latter contingency 



TKe Opening-Did 7 

is unlikely (if he is a good player) unless the 
score demands something unusual, or unless 
his side hand is fortified by aces, kings, or 
ruffs. 

Whether the hand I have been describing 
goes to the original bidder at hearts, or whether 
an entirely different player gets it at an entirely 
different suit, always remember the probable 
approximate position of those heart-points. 
Follow this process with every suit in turn, as it 
is named, always remembering, however, that 
later bids are apt to be modified by earlier ones. 
Still, by allowing not less than six or seven 
points for the player who first names a suit, 
counting your own hand, observing Dummy, 
remembering that each suit holds eighteen 
points, and never forgetting which player bid 
which suit, you will soon come to be known as an 
' * Auction wizard. ' ' 

It is impossible to tell you how this is going 
to help your game, and it is a system that very 
few players know, unless they have had pro- 
fessional instruction. 

At first you won't realize its value, or you will 
become a little confused. But before long you 
will wonder how you ever attempted to play 
without using this process of ''point-counting/' 
It will become involuntary and unconscious; 



8 TTKe Opening-Bid 

but you will **know, *' where formerly you 
merely ''wondered'' or ''hoped/* 

I have taught this method to many persons, 
and I have never heard more than one complaint 
about it, and that is that when you have mas- 
tered the method, it becomes discouraging to 
play with those who have not. 

It is always discouraging to play out of one's 
class — ^in tennis, in golf, in Auction, in anything. 
But that does not deter one from wishing to be 
in the first class, with the few who have become 
experts, rather than playing at a game with the 
mass of non-experts. 

No matter how good one's game may be, it 
is a pleasant and a courteous thing to play with 
those who are less skillful. But there is no 
reason why this should be done constantly; in 
fact, it greatly injures one's game of Auction to 
play incessantly with players in a lower class 
of skill. If no one notices signals, one stops 
making them; if no one makes them, one stops 
watching for them. In other games, such things 
are not demanded of the good players. Tennis 
experts do not play constantly with beginners, 
either from friendship or from a philanthropic 
desire to help the beginners in their game. 
You play in the class to which your degree of 
skill admits you. 



TKe Opening-Bid 9 

Play, whenever your courtesy allows it, with 
inferior players, and look upon such games as an 
act of charity; do not turn them into a lecture, 
unless asked to do so, and do not be irritated 
by the mistakes that you are bound to notice. 
Also try, in spite of discouraging conditions, to 
keep your own game up to the mark. Then 
play (eagerly seize the chance to play) with 
players more expert than yourself; but always 
remember that such games are an act of 
charity on their part. And, in conclusion, 
remember that your general run of games 
must be in that class to which yotu* skill 
admits you. 

Always remember to use ^'the process of 
elimination, '' in your bid. The lower the suit 
you bid on, the more expensive your bid. *'A 
spade'' is the most expensive declaration there 
is ; you make less, if you win, than at any other 
suit, and you lose just as much, if you lose, — 
unless, of course, you lose more than two-odd. 
In that case, a one-spade declaration is protected 
by Law 48. 

When you look at your hand, begin at the 
highest suit, and see if your hand warrants a 
bid in it; if it does not, go to the next highest, 
and so on down the line. But always bid the 
very best suit that your hand allows. Say to 



lo TKe Opening-Bid 

yourself: *'A no-trump? No. A royal? No. 
A heart? Yes." And there you are. If you 
have not the material for a heart-bid, look 
next at diamonds, then at clubs, and never 
open with a spade unless you are forced to it — 
never, unless you are sure you must lose more 
than two-odd! 

Let no one misunderstand me and think that 
I am urging unsound opening-bids to avoid an 
opening spade declaration. If you have a 
spade hand, you must bid a spade. But please 
never bid it unless you have to. 

There is nothing more discouraging than to 
have one's partner open the bidding with ''one 
spade"; it means that the next adversary will 
almost surely pass, and that the third player 
must come to the rescue, or that the hand will be 
left at " a spade. " Then, if you play it and win, 
you make 2, or 4, or 6; and if you play it and 
lose, you lose 50 or 100. 

Just look at the odds against you. It hardly 
pays you to win, it certainly does not pay you to 
lose, and your best efforts can hardly bring you 
more than 2 or 4 points. 

Again, if you can win at ''a spade," you could 
win at ''a royal, " and it would be a much more 
profitable winning; each trick would be worth 
four and a half times as much. And it would be 



TKe Opening-Bid li 

worth no more to the adversary if you lost, 
unless you lost more than two-odd. 

Then give a thought to your partner. It 
is enough for him to bear the responsi- 
bility of his own forced bid when he deals; 
don't put it up to him to come to the rescue 
every time you deal. Moreover, ^*a spade'' 
from you is discouraging to him. He feels 
that to essay "a no-trump/' he must have 
a phenomenally strong hand, because you have 
just declared a phenomenally weak one; in 
other words, he will have to do all the 
work alone, and keep leading away from his 
own hand, because you may not have a trick 
in yours (for re-entry). No-trump is a ter- 
rifying proposition after a spade bid from one's 
partner, it therefore follows that, unless he 
has a good suit-bid, he will be wise to take 
shelter under Law 48 : to pass and to limit 
his losses to 100. 

Now, suppose he has a fair average hand with 
the strength scattered evenly, and suppose you 
have just the same thing. Then you have a 
good no-trumper between you, and, thanks to 
your foolish opening bid, it is played as *'a 
spade." 

Here is a fair sample of a hand on which I 
find many players glad to shirk their responsi- 



12 



TKe Opening-Bid 



9" 10 2 




Y 




♦ Q32 


A 




B 


K 10 87 6 5 








4^72 




Z 





bilities and to open with a spade **just to see 
what the others will do'': 

4k 10 8 7 6 
<> A42 
4^64 

9k864 
4i A 5 
03 
4^AJ9853 

^A53 
4tiKJ94 

4bKQ10 

It does n't look possible on paper, but time 
and again I have seen hands similar to this 
opened with ''a spade." The second player 
goes by, on principle (I will explain to you later 
why one should never declare against "one 
spade," unless one can go game in the hand). 
Then, what is Y to do? If his partner's hand is 
a genuine spade, how can Y pull off a no-trumper, 
alone? On the other hand, he has no good suit- 
bid; he can do nothing but pass. And B will 
pass joyfully. An amateur, in B's place, would 



THe Opening-Bid 13 

declare *'a royar*; a good player would realize 
that royals are worth 9 a trick, and defeating 
the adversary is worth 50 a trick. How could 
B make 50 or 100 on that hand by playing 
royals? And why shoiild he not make 50 or 100 
by defeating spades? 

If Z opens that hand with '* a spade " he cannot 
fail to lose 50 points, unless he leads his clubs 
instead of finessing his diamonds — a thing that 
he would hardly do with a closed hand. By 
leading the club, he makes the odd — 2 points ! 
If he opens the bidding with ''a no-trump/' 
he cannot fail to take game, or to set the adver- 
sary in his bid ! 

A might cover the ** no-trump'' with ''two 
diamonds,'* upon which Y would immediately 
answer with "two no-trumps." If B tries 
''three royals," relying on his side suit and his 
singleton in his partner's suit, Z can bid three 
no-trumps, or he can do better still by doubling 
the royals and defeating them. As soon as he 
knows that his partner stops diamonds, and 
that the good spades lie with B rather than with 
A, Z is in a position to double a three-bid in 
anything. Just look at the difference! In- 
stead of losing 100, Z takes 100, or he takes 
more, or he goes game in the hand. And all 
through sound bidding! I think any one will 



14 THe Opening'-Did 

grant that this is not an unusual hand, or a 
remarkably strong hand, and it could certainly 
be entirely wasted with an unsound opening-bid. 

If Z plays the hand at no-trumps, A will lead 
his fourth-best diamond ; the rule of eleven will 
show Z that B cannot take it, and that his own 
nine-spot is good ; wishing to get into Dummy to 
finesse the hearts, he will start to make Dummy's 
clubs re-entry cards; to that end he will lead 
his king and then his jack — which B will have to 
take. If B then leads a spade (up to weakness), 
he shows that he has no diamonds, and allows 
Z to read the entire diamond suit. Playing the 
hand open, Z would know that his ten of spades 
would take B's eight ; but with closed hands, and 
on a forced interior lead, he would certainly 
play his queen. Even then, the game is his, 
with no trouble whatever. 

Of course, there is a school of bidding which 
always opens with '^a spade" on every good 
hand — the partner being obliged to keep the 
bidding open. But that isn't our school; and 
I notice, moreover, that its adherents are wan- 
dering more and more away from it. They 
now open a no-trump hand by bidding ''a no- 
trump" just as any one else does. 

Let this hand be a warning to you not to bid 
*'a spade" unless you have to — especially if 



TKe Opening-Bid 15 

your adversaries are good enough players to 
refrain from declaring against you. 

If you held that same hand and opened it 
with a no-trump, and your partner had not a 
trick in his hand, he would either bid two in a 
very long, weak suit, to warn you, or you would 
play it at no-trumps and lose no more than at 
spades. So you can be no worse off, and may be 
far better off, with the no-trump opening than 
with the spade. 



CHAPTER II 

ON OPENING-BIDS OF MORE THAN ONE 

Under the old count, certain players adopted 
a system of what were known as ''shut-out" 
bids. In order to keep the adversaries from 
bidding, the dealer would open with a bid of 
two or three in his suit — provided the suit was 
good enough to warrant it. 

This was done to keep the adversaries 
from naming their suits to each other and 
thus establishing a possible no-trumper, 
which neither one, alone, could essay. Even 
under the old count, I never cared for this 
method, never practiced it, and never taught 
it. And under the new count it is certainly 
unsound. 

No-trump, now, is not the wonderful thing it 
once was. It is worth less, and the other suits 
are worth more, than formerly. There are four 
suits that may be easily and successfully bid 
against no-trump. Therefore, no-trump has 

I6 



Opening-Bids of More tKan One 17 

lost its dazzle when bid by one's own side, and 
its terrors when bid by the adversary. 

Moreover, we want the other side to name their 
suits. We want to hear where the suits lie; we 
have learned to count the '* points" in a suit and 
to read the closed hands accordingly. It is of infi- 
nite value to know what our adversaries hold and 
to be able to lead through strength, instead of 
up to it. Then why make *'shut-ouf bids and 
voluntarily block these sources of information? 

Take this hand, for instance: 

*AQ 

10 8 7 62 

4j^ AQ82 



94 

4^7543 
OQ95 
4^97543 



CJ76 




Y 




4i K J 10 9 8 6 


A 




B 


<>KJ4 








♦ k 




Z 





9aKQ10 982 
4b2 
A3 
4 J 106 



Z should open this with ^*one heart,'' in 
which case A would bid ''two clubs,'' which he 



1 8 Opening-Bids of More tKan One 

can just make. So, if Y undertakes to double 
on his major ten-ace in clubs and spades, and 
on his partner's hearts, he will meet with defeat. 
But suppose Y does what is much wiser; suppose 
he uses his spades and clubs as raisers, and bids 
"two hearts" (hoping to force A to "three 
clubs'' and to defeat him) ! Then the hand will 
be played at two hearts by Z, and, thanks to the 
club information, he can make a grand slam. 
Knowing the clubs to be in A 's hand, Z can take 
the finesse with his ace-queen — which he would 
never do otherwise, with a singleton club in his 
own hand. This finesse will give him a chance 
to discard his losing diamond on his partner's 
master club. 

If Z had opened that hand with a bid of "two 
hearts," A would certainly have passed. He 
could not say "three clubs" lacking the ace- 
queen of his own suit, and holding a very uncer- 
tain combination of diamonds, three losing 
hearts, and one losing spade. Nobody would 
have bid against Z, and he would have played 
the hand at two hearts, in absolute ignorance of 
the position of the clubs. He would never have 
attempted the club finesse — holding a singleton 
himself — and without that finesse he could not 
get rid of his losing diamond. He would make 
one less trick (eight points) and a small slam 



Opening-Bids of More tKan One 19 

instead of a grand slam; a total difference of 
twenty-eight points, which would be the cost of 
his shut-out bid. 

Twenty-eight points is not much, but it is 
something! And in many hands the informa- 
tion as to suit-position is even more valuable. 
Remember this: you want to know where the 
suits lie; it will make nearly as much difference 
as playing open hands or playing closed ones. 
And if you want to know this, don't block your 
information by making shut-out bids. 

As to the practice of bidding two to show a 
long weak suit — it is a miserable one. That 
system has been thoroughly tested and proved 
unsound. To open with ''two hearts" on six 
to a queen is to announce your poverty to the 
entire table and to undertake a contract that 
you cannot keep, unless fate is remarkably 
kind and gives your partner an unusually good 
hand. If the good cards lie against you, and the 
adversaries are skillful enough to pass, you 
will not be long in repenting your bid of two. 

To sum up, then, don't open with a bid of 
two to show strength, and don't open with a 
bid of two to show weakness. In other words, 
never open with a bid of two. 

There is a bid that is finding warm support 
amongst certain excellent players. While I 



20 Opening-Bids of More tHan One 

do not care for it, personally, it may appeal to 
you, and, at any rate, it is necessary to under- 
stand it. 

It is the old opening call of '*two spades,*' 
but with a different meaning. If you hold the 
ace-king of spades and one small card, and one 
other trick in the hand, you bid ''two spades" 
to show you can take the first two rounds of 
that suit if your partner wants to try no-trumps 
or royals. To bid ''one spade'' might dis- 
courage him, and the hand is just a shade too 
light to warrant "a royal. " 

While I see the advantages of this bid, I do 
not advocate it. To begin with, the occasions 
when the situation arises are so rare as scarcely 
to need a special provision. One more little 
spade would give you a possible royal bid; 
one less would cut your "two spades" down to 
"one spade." It is such a slight chance, that 
I think I should risk the hand on the higher 
bid (royals), or consign it to the lower one, 
with very few regrets. 

Then, I dislike the necessity that the bid 
imposes on your partner. I do not see why 
any one's bid, save the dealer's, should be a 
"forced" one. Now, if you open with "two 
spades, " Law 48 will not shelter you. And you 
are marked with spades that are not good 



Opening-Bids of More tHan One 21 

enough to warrant a royal-bid. Therefore, the 
second player will certainly pass and leave you 
in the hole, and your partner will have to rescue 
you, or leave you with a bid that you probably 
cannot pull off, and which will be nearly worth- 
less if you do. Suppose your partner has no 
bid ! It is true that '' one '' in any suit will over- 
call your ''two spades,'* but you may force him 
to a thoroughly unsound bid. 

That seems to me the drawback to the bid; 
the chance of needing it is very slight; and its 
inconvenience, when used, may be very great. 

I have never heard this bid in actual use, 
even by its advocates. This does not mean 
that they do not practice what they preach; it 
means, rather, that there is scarcely one hand 
out of a thousand where it is necessary, or where 
the situation may not be covered by some other 
perfectly sound bid. 



CHAPTER III 

SUBSEQUENT BIDS 

Remember always that the dealer, alone, is 
forced to bid. He must bid, but no one else need ; 
and no one else should, unless he has a real 
reason for so doing. 

The bid of the second player is largely deter- 
mined by the dealer's bid. If the dealer has 
bid one in no-trump, royals, hearts, diamonds, 
or clubs, the second player should look first to 
see how that bid suits his own hand. ^^ If the 
bid suits you, say nothing'' is a very excellent 
rule. At the same time, it is necessary to 
remember that a bid of one is very hard to 
defeat. No matter how good your hand, rarely 
count much on defeating a bid of one; realize, 
however, that your good hand will probably 
keep the dealer from making more than his one. 

Another excellent rule is this: '^unless the bid 
would put you game, be content to yield it to the 
adversary, unless his bid would put him game!'' 

22 



Sxibseqxient Bids 23 

This rule, too, must be taken with modifications. 
Very often the adversary's bid will not put him 
game, but if you let him play the hand he will 
take enough over his bid to go game. For 
instance, he may bid ''one heart,'' which will 
not put him game; but he may take four hearts, 
and there is his game in the hand. 

If you have sufficient material to overbid the 
dealer, it is well to do it ; for the mere indication 
of your suit will often enable your partner to 
raise it (if necessary), and you will score on 
the hand, instead of permitting the other side 
to score on it. Also, it is well not to let the other 
side get the bid at one-odd; force them to two, 
if possible, and give them a harder contract. 
But remember that a forcing bid does nH always 
force! You may be left with it. Your partner 
may even raise it, when it comes round to him 
if the third player has bid. For instance, 
suppose the dealer opens with ''one heart"; you 
want to force him and you say "two diamonds " ; 
the third player says "two hearts"; now, if your 
partner has two tricks in his hand (a trick and a 
"raiser"), he may easily say "three diamonds," 
which will give you more than you can carry^ 
if your bid has been a light one. So you must 
always remember, when you make a forcing-bid, 
that there is a chance of your bid being raised. 



24 S-ubsequent Bids 

Now, if the dealer has bid ''a spade," your 
duty (as second player) is changed. You must 
positively pass, unless you can take game in the 
hand! Never bid against a one-spade opening- 
bid, under any other circumstances. If the 
dealer's partner bids, you can bid your hand 
against his, on a second round. If the dealer's 
partner passes, you have two poor hands against 
you and the chance of making loo points without 
any effort whatever I What matter if they are 
above the line? I wish that cross-line could be 
erased from the minds of players if not from 
the score-card. One hundred points are one 
hundred points, no matter where they are! Don't 
scorn them, and don't throw away the chance 
to score them. One such penalty will in- 
crease your rubber- value to 350; two of them 
will nearly double it! Take my word for it, 
expert players will give you very few chances 
to score 500 and 600 in penalties; so don't 
waste your time waiting for those chances 
that never come, but seize the spade-penalty 
with proper gratitude. If you make five-odd 
on a no-trump hand, with thirty aces, you 
are triumphant; yet that totals 80 points — 20 
less than the spade-penalty. Ninety royal- 
honors fill you with joy, yet you turn away 
from 100 spade-honors, and bid a weak hand 



Sxibseqiaent Bids 25 

on which you cannot score more than six or 
eight points! 

If you can go game on your hand, bid it 
against a spade. If the rubber (two games) is 
worth 250 honor-points, one game is worth 125 
honor-points; that means it is worth more than 
the spade-penalty. 

But a partial game is worth little or nothing. 
You may toil on at your sixes, and tens, and 
eighteens, and see the other side go game in the 
hand before you ever reach your Mecca of 
thirty points. Partial games are very disap- 
pointing things ; take them if you can get nothing 
better; but never fail to remember that 100 
honor-points are infinitely better. 

Occasionally the other side will stu*prise you 
by taking the odd, or even two-odd, on a spade 
bid. But what if they do? Two points, or 
four points, need cause you no alarm; while, 
if you set them, you make a very pretty sum. 

Write this rule on your memory tablet: 
'* Rarely bid against the adversary's one spade, 
unless you have a chance to go game on the 
hand." 

When tempted to bid your hand against 
*'a spade,*' count what it will probably bring 
you, and if it does not mean game, weigh it 
against 100 honor-points, and choose the latter. 



26 S\jibseq\ient Bids 

The bid of the Third Player has been tremen- 
dously affected by the new count, in the way 
it makes it more valuable to dovetail his hand with 
his partner s than to show independent suits. 
Let me explain. 

Suppose the dealer is your partner, and he 
has opened the bidding by a bid of one in any 
suit — save spades. Two things may happen: 
the second hand may pass, or he may bid. We 
will consider the two cases separately. 

If the second hand passes, you (being third 
hand) should pass also, unless you have a much 
more valuable suit than your partner's, or unless 
you want to warn him of your inability to help 
him in his suit! This, you see, is a distinct 
departure from the old regime when we showed 
as many suits as possible, in order to establish 
the ever-desired no-trump. 

If your partner bids ''a club,'' or ^'a dia- 
mond,'' you are at liberty to overcall with 
''a heart," ''a royal," or ''a no-trump," if 
your hand warrants it — because you can go 
game in fewer tricks. If, however, the score 
stands at such a point that his bid would put 
you game, it is not desirable to overcall him 
(even in a better suit), unless you have high 
honors. 

If your partner has bid ''a heart, " ''a royal, " 



Sxxbsequent Bids 27 

or "a no-trump/' your suit cannot be very- 
much better than his; therefore, you never 
overcall him unless to show weakness in his suit. 
Personally, I always prefer to overcall, if I 
have a good suit and entirely lack my partner's 
suit ; but many excellent players do not overcall 
even in those circumstances, if they can give 
their partner two tricks. Suppose your part- 
ner opens the bidding with ''a royal'' and the 
next hand passes, and suppose you have the 
following hand: 

^ A J 10 8 4 2 
d|b A985 
Q 10 6 

My advice would be to overbid your partner 
with **two hearts, " to show that you cannot help 
him. Then, if he still wants royals, or holds a 
combination from which he can afford to lead 
away and to play his hand without your assist- 
ance, he can go back to his *'two royals"; if he 
does, be sure to let him alone. 

But on this same hand many authorities 
would advise you to let his ''one royal" stand; 
you have two aces in your hand, and two tricks 
are a fair allowance from you; therefore, they 



28 S\ibseq\ient Bids 

would not overcall even being blank in his suit. 
I prefer to warn and to be warned, and I think 
most players do. 

A "backward*' bid, however, has come to 
have quite a different meaning from what it once 
had; by ''backward'' bid, I mean a bid in a suit 
that is worth less than your partner's, when the 
intervening adversary has not bid. Formerly^ 
such a bid meant wonderful strength in that lower 
suit; now it means wonderful weakness in your 
partner's suit. Nothing else. The lower suit 
on which you bid may, or may not, have unusual 
strength; it must be good enough to warrant 
your bid of two — otherwise, you should let 
stand your partner's bid of one. But it may 
hold nothing but the most ordinary strength, 
and a warning to your partner that he must 
manage his own suit alone. 

To sum up then, if your partner bids ''a 
heart" and you hold none of his suit, you are 
wise to change the bid if you can; if he says ''a 
royal" and you have none, change the bid if 
possible. If he says a no-trump (now attend), 
his suit is aces and kings, and, holding none of them , 
you should tell him so, if possible. And now we 
have come to one of the most-discussed questions 
in Auction, and one on which the authorities 
have been more misquoted than on any other. 



Subseqiaent Bids 29 

Every one knows that it is easier to win a 
shaky hand at a declared trump than at no- 
trump ; in the former you can often establish a 
ruff in the weak hand, or a cross-ruff between the 
two hands, whereas in no-trump you are helpless 
if the other side gets in with an established suit. 
All authorities agree that when your partner 
bids no-trump and you hold a hopeless hand, 
you should warn him of it by making a ''back- 
ward '' bid of two, in some suit — if you can. But 
the lightest material on which you should do this, 
is five cards to a ten-spot. 

On no other point have the authorities been 
so misquoted. I have seen players calmly 
change their partner's no-trump to '*two dia- 
monds,*' holding only fotu* to a jack — and vow 
that they had been taught to do so. This is 
positively mistaken! Change to any six-card 
suit (even if it runs only to an eight or nine-spot) , 
for then you have half of the trumps in the pack, 
while your partner has a no-trump hand. 
Change, too, to any five-card suit that runs to a 
ten-spot, or to anything higher, but not to any- 
thing lower. And do not change to any four- 
card suit that runs to a single honor, or to two 
honors. You will regret it, if you do. 

By changing to a two-bid, you assume a 
contract of one more trick; you are going to 



30 Siabseq\jient Bids 

jump out of the frying-pan into the fire, if you 
try that with a four-card suit. Moreover, your 
partner's ** one no-trump*' will not be doubled — 
for no one doubles bids of one ; he can therefore 
lose but 50 a trick. And your two suit-bid 
may easily be doubled, and you will lose 100 
a trick. 

Here are some hands to illustrate; assume, 
in every instance, that your partner has 
opened with **one no-trump,'' that the next 
hand has passed, and that you hold the hand 
given: 

9J432 

4i 10 8 6 
95 

That is a desperate position; but it is not a 
''two-heart " bid. How under heaven could you 
make ''two hearts" unless your partner held a 
marvelous hand? And if he does, let him have 
his no-trump. Here is another hand: 

4li 10 9 8 5 
532 



Siabseqxient Bids 31 

Don't say '^two clubs'' on that hand; it is 
simply senseless. Here is another: 

4lil0 8 4 
098532 
4^ J 10 7 

That is decidedly not a ^'two-diamond" bid; 
if the nine of diamonds were a ten, the hand 
would just come inside the lightest possible 
limit. Now I will give you a few examples 
of hands in which you should change the 
bid: 

^ 10 9 3 

4k 



J96542 
48643 

Change to ''two diamonds"; you have a six- 
card suit headed by a face-card, and a club-ruff, 
which would be wasted in no-trump. 

9k 

4li964 
032 

4 10 986432 



32 S-ubseqvient Bids 

Change to **two royals/' The reasons are 
obvious. 

^ 

4^98765432 
O 10 9 7 4 

Change to ''two clubs. '' 

I hope that these examples will serve to make 
clear a situation that I am sure is the most- 
discussed and the least-understood of any that 
the game offers. 

Now suppose that instead of opening with a 
legitimate bid, your partner has been forced to 
say ''a spade''; this, of course, means nothing; 
it is the dealer's equivalent for ''by"; the next 
hand passes — what are you to do? 

In the first place, rid your mind of the idea 
that you must "rescue" your partner from "a 
spade. " If he is a good player and does not bid 
a spade unless he must, you would far better 
take refuge under Law 48 (which limits the 
loss at a one-spade bid to 100 points) than essay 
a light make yourself. If you have a good 
suit-bid, well and good. But remember that it 
takes a better hand than usual to bid "a no-trump ^^ 
after your partner s spade. He has practically 



Svibseqxient Bids 33 

declared his hand to be valueless ; you would have 
to do all the work yourself. 

This all pre-supposes that the second hand 
has passed; suppose, instead, that he has over- 
bid your partner. Then the case is quite 
different. 

If your partner has opened with '^a no-trump'' 
and the second hand has bid two in some suit, 
you, of course, cannot say ''two no-trumps" 
unless you hold a stopper in that suit. But even 
holding such a stopper, you are not forced to 
say ''two no-trumps '' unless your hand warrants 
it. If it does, bid it; if not, bid another suit 
when you are able; otherwise, pass. 

When your partner has made a suit-hid, and 
has been overbid, examine your hand and see 
if you have a "raiser'' for him. Before you 
can raise him — deduct one trick from your 
hand (not necessarily a trump trick); after 
deducting this trick, "raisers'' are guarded 
trump-honors, side-aces, side-kings, singletons, 
and missing suits — nothing else. No guarded 
queens may be counted as raisers. A singleton 
is a raiser, and a singleton ace is two raisers; 
a missing suit is also two raisers — provided, of 
course, that you have the trumps to ruff it. 

In no-trump, any well-guarded honor is a 
raiser; but in a declared trump, the third round 

3 



34 Suibseqixent Bids 

of a suit is too apt to be ruffed by one or the 
other of the adversaries. 

If you hold a suit that is very much better 
than your partner's, bid it against his; but if 
yours counts nearly the same, or less, use it as 
a side-suit and raise his bid. This '* dovetailing '* 
of hands, instead of showing independent suits, 
is one of the marked effects of the new count. 

Under a system where the suits are but one 
point apart, the necessity for changing them is 
not so great. For instance, it is hardly worth 
changing ''a club" to ''a diamond'' (on a 
clean score), because it takes five-odd of either 
to put you game. On the other hand, if you 
were i6 on the game, you would be apt to change 
** a club " to " a diamond, " because two diamonds 
would put you game and two clubs would not. 
With a clean score, you would change *'a dia- 
mond" to *'a heart" (possibly), because it takes 
one trick less to go game; but you would not 
change '*a heart" to ''a royal," unless you held 
wonderful honors. You would be wiser to use 
your ace and king of spades (if you had them) 
as side-help for your partner in his heart-bid — 
even granting that your own hearts are nothing 
wonderful. Formerly, if your partner opened 
with ''a diamond," and the next player said 
''a heart," you would be apt to say ''two 



Svibsequent Bids 



35 



clubs'* (if you had them), so that your partner 
might shift to ^'a no-trump/' if he had a heart 
stopper. To-day, ''one no-trump" won't beat 
''two clubs," and "two clubs" themselves are 
worth more than they used to be. But my 
point is this, you would better use those clubs as 
a side-suit, and cover the adversary's heart-bid 
with "two diamonds." There are but three 
points' difference between diamonds and no- 
trump. Take this hand: 

^AKJ6 

♦ Q9732 

Oq 

♦ AQ3 



9Q733 

4kA85 

08 

4k K 10 8 5 4 




^ 10 9 5 4 
4ii J 10 6 4 
A94 
4^ J9 



98 

OKJ 10 76532 
4^762 



A-B were game in and 24-0 on the second 
game. Consequently, Z-Y were extremely 
anxious to make a declaration that would put 



36 S\jbseq\jent Bids 

them game in the hand. Z bid ''a diamond'* 
which A capped with *'a royal.'* It was not a 
wonderful royal-bid, but it had two side-tricks, 
a singleton, and a seven-point trump-make. 
And a ''forcing-bid'* may often be made when a 
player falls below the standard that is set for 
an opening bid. As a matter of fact, the royal- 
bid would fail by just one trick, and that only 
because the adversaries had a cross-ruff in 
diamonds and hearts. 

Y bid ''a no-trump," because his partner had 
diamonds and he had every other suit — and 
that was where he made his mistake. It was 
true that he held the ace-queen over A's probable 
king of spades, but he had a singleton in his 
partner's suit, his long suit would need three 
rounds to establish it, and his strong suit was 
short and might not clear. 

Do beware of no-trumps when you hold single- 
tons — even when your singleton is in the suit 
which your partner has declared ! 

Y had a much better raise to ''two diamonds" 
than a no-trump bid, because he knew his hand 
would fit in with his partner's. His trump 
singleton would either take a trick or clear the 
suit for his partner, and he had two spade-tricks 
and two heart-tricks that were almost sure. It 
was a beautiful raising hand. 



S\ibseq\ient Bids 37 

B passed, and (most unfortunately) Z passed. 
Beyond all question, Z should have overcalled 
with ''two diamonds. " His hand was worthless 
except for diamonds; he held two singletons 
(those dread things at no-trump) and a trio of 
miserable spades. His reasons for passing were 
these: his suit was not established, and he feared 
his partner would read him with four or five 
honors (if he insisted on diamonds), and would 
be deterred from a perfectly possible no-trumper; 
and it needed but three-odd to go game in no- 
trump, and five-odd in diamonds, and they 
needed game. The first reason was poor, the 
second was rather better. But Z should have 
argued thus: with his wonderful diamonds, and 
his partner s no-trump hand, five-odd was a very 
possible thing. The first wrong step, however, 
was when Y said ''a no-trump'' instead of ''two 
diamonds.*' 

Until you try out the hand you will be sur- 
prised to know that Y cannot take the odd in 
no-trumps ; in spite of his partner's diamonds and 
his own beautiful suit, and in spite of his four- 
chette over A's king of spades, the odd is 
an impossibility for him; his three singletons 
kill it. 

If Y had tried to dovetail his hand v/ith his 
partner's, in place of bidding independently, or if 



38 Sxibseq-uent Bids 

Z had gone back to his own wonderful suit, they 
would have gone swimming to victory. 

If your partner (as dealer) uses the ** two- 
spade'' call, then, and then only, your bid is 
"forced'' and not "free." The second player 
will surely pass, and Law 48 will not protect 
you in a "two-spade" bid, as it would in a one. 
Your partner has probably but three spades to 
the ace or king-queen; he cannot take two-odd, 
and they would be worth almost nothing if he did. 

With a fair general hand, bid "no-trump." 
Lacking this, or a good suit-bid, bid "a royal" 
on four to the jack or the ten. And if this is 
an impossibility, bid one in the best suit your 
hand holds. 

The bid of the Fourth Player depends largely 
upon the information gleaned from the previous 
bids. It offers very few difficulties. The prin- 
cipal points to remember are these: not to bid 
if the declaration rests at "one spade," unless 
he can go game in the hand; not to bid at all, 
if the declaration rests at "two spades" (for 
then the adversaries are in a decided hole and 
he would be more than foolish to help them 
out) ; and to use the same rules for raising, and 
dove-tailing his hand with his partner's, as hold 
between the bid of the third player and the 
dealer. 



S\ibseq\ient Bids 39 

As fourth player, I should risk very little to 
save game^ but I should risk a good deal to save 
rubber, A consciously losing bid that will give 
the other side 200 or 300 points, is often a profit- 
able loss when the rubber is at stake. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE DOUBLE 

Nowhere in Auction are the effects of the 
new count as apparent as in the double. 
Doubling has decreased fifty per cent, since the 
advent of the new count! 

The double is also one of the weakest points in 
the average game. Let me see if I cannot make 
its use clear to you. 

There are two all-important rules that govern 
the double: (i) never double any bid of one; and 
(2) never double anything unless you can double 
everything. We will consider these in turn. 

First, ''never double a bid of one.'' This rule 
must positively be adhered to. One-odd is 
surprisingly hard to defeat and surprisingly 
easy to make. Just notice, the next time you 
play, how seldom a bid of one is defeated ; there 
are times, of course, when it can be done, and 
on those times rest content with your 50 a trick. 
Fifty is five times as much as you could possibly 

40 



TKe Doxjible 



41 



make on one odd trick, if you played the hand 
yourself — and it is just as valuable when the 
adversary gives it to you. 

Here is a hand that arose in actual play; it 
illustrates admirably the foolishness of doubling 
a one-bid : 



4I1 Q 10 9 8 3 2 
OQ108 
♦ 43 



9kj 

4I1 AKJ4 

Oj 

♦ Q J 10 7 6 2 




^87653 

4i65 

0976543 

♦ 



^10 9 42 

AK2 

♦ AK985 

The score was 14-10 on the rubber game in 
favor of Z-Y. Z dealt and bid ''a royal." 
His bid would, therefore, not put him game, 
even if he made it — hut if it were doubled, it 
would put him game (if he made it). ''A royal" 
suited A better than anything else; and he 
could be almost sure, from his own hand, that 



42 TKe Doiable 

Z could not take more than the odd, if he took 
that. 

The rule says, ^^ unless your bid would put you 
game, be content to yield it to the adversary, 
unless his bid would put him game/' *'A 
royal'' would not put Z game — and A's only 
possible forcing-bid would be "two clubs," 
which would not put him game, even if he made 
them. Moreover, A could be sure (with so 
many spades in his own hand) that his partner 
would hold few, or none, and that Z would not 
be apt to hold enough to make him take the 
force and bid ''two royals. " '' Two clubs " on a 
four-card suit would be a poor bid; even the 
singleton is not of much use, because no one 
cares to take many ruffs with only four trumps. 

If A had doubled that bid, he would have 
made a sad mistake. Z could take the odd with 
ease; instead of being worth 9 (with simple 
honors against him), it would have been worth 
18, plus 50 for contract, plus 250 for rubber. A 
nice little windfall for Z, and all because A had 
made a mistaken double on a bid of one-odd. 

If you double a bid of one, the adversary may 
easily surprise you by making it; if he does, it is 
worth twice its normal value, and he gets a 
nice little bonus besides. He gets the 50, in 
place of your getting it. But that is n't the 



The Doxjble 43 

only reason you don't double bids of one; you 
dont do it, because you are afraid that the maker 
or his partner may jump to something else. 
Suppose you double ''one diamond," and the 
adversary's partner changes to ''one heart" or 
"two clubs" ; you may not be able to do a thing 
in hearts or clubs. And by your foolish double 
you have frightened them away from the very 
suit you most wanted to play. You have been 
good enough to warn them from their dangerous 
suit and to guide them toward one where they 
are perfectly safe. It is so obvious that I 
cannot understand the difficulty many players 
seem to have in grasping it. 

Under the old count it was permissible to 
double a bid of one, in a black suit, to show that 
you could stop the suit at no-trump. If the 
adversary opened with "a spade," or "a club," 
and you held the ace of his suit, or the guarded 
king or queen you would double to indicate 
a stopper, so that your partner might go to 
no-trump. I never liked this custom, never 
played it, and never taught it, even under the 
old count. And under the new count (when 
such wild dashes for no-trump are unnecessary), 
such bids would seem positively archaic. No 
one makes them any more. The other day I 
ran across some players from another city who 



44 THe Do\jble 

still clung to doubling bids of one in the black 
suits, and I cannot tell you how old-fashioned 
and futile it seemed. You know how queer a 
ten-year-old photograph looks to you to-day. 
That was precisely the impression those doubles 
made on me. We have left that sort of thing 
far, far behind. 

We come now to the second of the two great 
doubling rules: ''never double anything unless 
you can double everything.'' This is, without 
exception, the best doubling rule that has ever 
been made. And it is the direct outcome of the 
new count. 

Under the old count, the wide disparity in the 
suit-values cut off your adversary's means of 
escape from an unwelcome double. Suppose 
he had bid ''three no-trumps" (36 points) and 
that you had doubled him. His only possible 
escape would be "five hearts" (a very high bid 
and one which would make your book two 
tricks), or "six diamonds," — a small slam! 
No black suit would have offered him refuge, and 
the red ones were almost prohibitive. 

Suppose he bids "three no-trumps" to-day. 
They are worth 30 points instead of 36 ; and just 
think for a moment of how many paths lie open 
before him, if you attempt to double him. He, 
or his partner, may jump to "four royals" 



The Double 45 

(that brand-new suit), '*four hearts*' (instead of 
five), ''five diamonds,*' or ''five clubs'*; four 
alternatives instead of two, and not one of them 
a six-bid! 

If the adversary has made a bid that suits you 
so well that you are virtually sure of defeating 
it, and if no other bid would suit you at all, why 
should you run the risk of frightening him away 
from the desirable bid? If you wanted to 
startle a person in the dark, would you say to 
him, " Look out, now, I am going to frighten you ! 
Boo!" or would you jump at him without a 
word of warning? 

To double a person is to warn him. It tells 
him at once that you are strong enough to think 
you can defeat him; if he thinks you cannot, 
and refuses to change his bid, then no harm 
has been done. But in that case you are the 
one who would better look out. 

But if the bid has been a shaky one, your 
double will warn him of his danger and will 
give him a chance to get into a safer place where 
you cannot touch him, for "doubling keeps the 
bidding open. " Your opponent will change his 
bid, or, if he cannot, his partner will rush to the 
breach, and they will make a new bid in a suit 
where you cannot harm them in the least. 

But there are many occasions where you can 



46 The Double 

double the adversary in anything which he 
attempts as a means of escape; those are the 
times, and the only times, when you should 
double him at all. And, of course, the higher 
you get him, the harder it will be for him to get 
out. Suppose he has bid ''three royals*' on this 
hand: 

9j 

d|kA6 

K 10 4 
4^AQ10 7654 

That, I think, is a perfectly sound ''three 
royar' bid; he has four cards that rank as 
*' losing'* cards — the jack of hearts, the six of 
clubs, and the ten and four of diamonds. That 
gives him a three bid, even without the legiti- 
mate allowance of one trick from his partner's 
hand. 

Now, suppose you sit "over'' him (on his left 
hand, not his right), and have been bidding no- 
trumps against his royals, on the following hand; 

^AKQ 

♦ kQ5 
<>AQ6 

♦ kJ98 



The Do\jble 47 

When you get him to ''three royals," you 
should certainly double him, for he cannot 
possibly make it. Your book is four; your king 
and jack of spades will both take, being guarded 
and being on the proper side of the bid. That 
makes half your book; three tricks more will 
enable you to defeat him. You can be almost 
sure that he is short, or lacking, in at least one 
suit; for with the high side cards in your hand, 
he must have a long line of royals to go to three, 
and with so many of them he is short somewhere 
else. But even so, you can certainly squeeze 
three tricks out of your three master hearts, your 
major ten-ace in diamonds, and your guarded 
king and queen of clubs. And that is without 
counting on a single trick from your partner. 

But the real reason you double him is because 
you have him, no matter where he jumps. It 
is like trying to defeat an enemy in battle; you 
first cut off every possible means of escape, and 
then you pounce on him and demolish him. If 
in this case your adversary tries to get out by 
changing his bid to ''three no-trumps,'' "four 
hearts," "four diamonds," or "five clubs," you 
are perfectly sure he cannot make it, and you 
can double him again. 

Even sitting on the wrong side of the royal-bid, 
a hand like that would defeat "three royals"; 



48 



TKe Double 



but you could not feel as sure of making both 
your high trumps when there was danger of 
being led through. 

Amateurs will always tell you that this rule 
of *' never doubling anything unless you can 
double everything'' is ''a perfectly absurd" one. 
They will be sure to think that it cuts down their 
chances of doubling. And so it does ; for it elimi- 
nates all foolish doubles and leaves only the sane 
and safe ones. Rather a good way of pruning, 
is n't it? What satisfaction is there in doubling 
and seeing the adversary jump to safer ground? 

Here is a hand where you should not double, 
even though you can easily defeat the bid : 



^KQJ942 
<|k Q 10 9 
A58 




V 

d|kAK:J874 

OQ987 
4A64 


Y 

A B 

Z 


9 A 10 8 7 6 

K64 
4k J532 


1 
< 
< 


^53 
(|b633 
5 J 10 3 
|k K Q 10 8 7 





TKe Double 49 

Z opens this hand with ''a royal." It 
is not a wonderfully strong bid, but it is 
a perfectly legitimate one. In the present 
instance he cannot make it, but that is 
only because the other side has a cross- 
ruff. And he loses but two-odd (lOO points), 
which is no more than he would lose at 
spades. At royals, he will lose lOO points 
less 1 8 honors (82 points), and at spades 
he would lose 100 points less 4 honors 
(96 points). The royal is therefore preferable. 

A says ''two clubs, " and Y says ''two hearts, '' 
— to B's secret delight. 

But B must not double for fear of fright- 
ening Z back to royals; Z could not make 
two royals, but B does not know that. 
Neither does he know that between them 
the adversaries could not establish a two 
no-trump bid. His partner's club-bid makes 
this seem improbable, but B must not risk 
it. "When the bid suits you, say nothing," 
and "two hearts'' suits B to perfection. By 
passing, he scores 150 points — more than 
he could possibly make on his own decla- 
ration. 

Here is another hand that admirably illustrates 
the rule in question: 
4 



50 



THe Double 



9 K 10 3 

4^92 

<> A Z 10 8 5 

4Q52 




9aQ76 

4^65 

03 

4 J 10 9 8 7 3 


Y 

A B 

Z 


9 

♦ KQJ874 
OQJ974 

♦ K4 


9J98542 
4k A 10 3 
062 
4kA6 





I hope and pray that none of my readers would 
open this hand with ''a heart''; it is absolutely 
unwarranted to bid on jack-suits on the first 
round, except in extreme cases, where things are 
desperate and the score demands that you break 
the rule. Z's proper bid is '^ a spade. '' 

A must not bid "a royal'' for the same reason 
that Z must not bid ''a heart. " Moreover, if A 
could take the odd in royals, he can keep the 
adversary from taking the odd in spades. To 
score a trick in royals is worth 9 points ; to defeat 
a spade is worth 50 or 1 00 points. A passes. 

Y bids **a diamond." 

B boosts with "two clubs." 



TKe Doiable 51 

Z has a trick and a raiser — his two aces. He 
can say ''two diamonds" if he Hkes — but I do 
not particularly care for it. However, if he 
does, or if Y does, B must not double the dia- 
monds for fear of frightening the adversary to 
hearts, to royals, or to no-trumps. Of course, 
he can defeat the diamond bid; but let him be 
satisfied with his 50 a trick. By reaching for 
100 he might lose it all. 

If B doubles two diamonds, Z will bid ''two 
hearts,*' and he can just make it. But let no 
one think that this fact warrants an opening 
bid of "a heart'' from Z. Suppose the rest of 
the cards were differently divided; suppose B 
held the ace-queen of hearts over Y's king, and 
A held all the little hearts and a diamond-ruff; 
or suppose B held Y's hearts and a spade-ruff, 
and Y was chicane in hearts! Then where 
would Z's heart bid land him? Because a 
thing works out sometimes is no proof that 
it is right. And you simply must not deceive 
your partner by bidding on jack-suits on the 
first round. 

It is not always necessary to hold good trumps 
in order to double; it is only necessary to hold 
one more trick than your book, and to he able to 
double any other possible make. Here is a hand 
that shows on what light trumps you can some- 



52 



TKe Do\jble 



times double; the doubler, here, holds only the 
singleton deuce of trumps: 



4i972 

4k A K Q J 10 3 



^A864 
♦ AKQJ8 
OQ104 




Y 

A B 

Z 


9kQ92 
4ll0 5 4 
<>865 
4^954 


9753 

4i63 

OAKJ73 

4876 





Z bids '*a diamond," A ''a royal,'* and Y 
'^two diamonds" or ''two clubs" — preferably 
the former. He is debarred from no-trump by 
his singleton spade. A goes up in royals on 
account of his honors; he is naturally loath 
to lose them. Y continues to force him with 
diamonds until he gets him to ''three royals" 
(he will have to make this bid or yield the play 
to Y on his bid of "three diamonds, " and lose his 
90 honors). If A says "three royals," Y is 
wiser to double than to bid "four diamonds." 



The Dovjble 53 

Of course, if he could see his partner's hand, he 
would realize that he was safe at four diamonds ; 
but with four losing cards in his hand, he is 
wiser to double the *^ three royals." And he is 
safe in doubling, because: 

If A or B should say ''four hearts** (to get 
out of the double), Y can double that. 

If they should say ''three no-trumps,'* he 
can double that. 

And they certainly cannot escape by the way 
of diamonds or clubs, so he has them in a 
hole. 

Y makes 200 by doubling "three royals. 
A*s honors cut his profit down to no; but even 
that is 47 points more than he could make with 
four diamonds, unless the latter would put him 
rubber. 

Now I am going to tell you why I have been so 
anxious to impress upon you this rule of "never 
doubling anything unless you can double every- 
thing. *' It is because it eliminates from the 
game one of its weakest points. Every one 
knows how tiresome it is to have a partner who 
insists upon taking you out of a double when you 
want to stay in. All good players agree in 
declaring that it is one of the most annoying 
things that can happen in Auction, and, un- 
fortunately, it happens constantly. But with 



54 The Doxable 

the adoption of this rule, it will be entirely done 
away with. 

Your partner cannot ''rescue'' you with an 
inexcusably weak bid in another suit, because it is 
impossible for you to be rescued. If you have 
been doubled in diamonds, he will be doubled in 
anything that he attempts — clubs, hearts, royals, 
or no-trumps. This will keep him from feeling 
that he must do something ''to pull his partner 
out, '' and will wipe out the weak bids which are 
often the mistaken results of a double. This is 
the secondary advantage of the rule, but, to my 
mind, it is almost as great as the primary 
one. 

It is, of course, impossible to know whether 
your partner is pleased or displeased at being 
doubled. If I could make a rule, or establish a 
convention, that would clear away this difficulty, 
I should be the most popular person in the Auc- 
tion world to-day. But such a rule, or such a 
convention, is an utter impossibility. Never- 
theless, one thing is certain: whether, or not, he 
likes his position, you can not help him out. And 
that fact should keep you from essaying such a 
thing on a hand which is probably far weaker 
than the one on which he bid and was doubled. 

I have seen players bid "three hearts'' on a 
hand approximating this: 



The Doxible 55 

^AQ J862 

JJ^KIOS 
^ K94 

and I have seen the bid doubled. 

Then I have seen the partner of the first bidder 
go to "three royals'' on the queen- jack-ten, six, 
and four, and not another trick in the hand! 

Now, I ask you, would any sane person bid 
"three royals'' on five to the queen- jack-ten, 
and not an outside trick, if there had been no 
double? Most certainly not; therefore it is 
not a bid with which to rescue a partner who has 
been doubled, for the simple reason that it is 
certainly far worse than the hand on which he 
voluntarily went to "three hearts"; you throw 
away the good hand and play the poor one, 
simply because you permit yourself to be terror- 
ized by a double. If you realize that you are 
bound to be doubled on the hand no matter 
what you do, you will soon see how much better 
it is to be doubled on his hand, which he bid with 
his eyes open and in cool judgment, than on 
your hand, to which you fiy as a desperate hope. 

There is just one situation where it is wise to 
take your partner out of a double. Let me 
explain it to you: suppose your partner deals 



56 The Doxible 

and declares a diamond, and the second hand 
passes; you hold very good royals, but do not 
declare them against your partner's bid, because 
the score makes his diamonds as good as your 
royals. The fourth hand bids hearts, and your 
partner allows himself to be forced up in his 
diamonds till he is doubled by the second player 
(i, e.j the one on his left). Now declare your 
royals if they are good enough ; you will have 
no heavier contract than your partner's, and 
though you know you will be doubled if he was 
doubled, you have this advantage — the doubling 
hand sits '^ under'' you and can be led through; 
whereas he sits ''over'' your partner, and has him 
at a disadvantage. This position, and one where 
you hold excellent honors in a high suit (and 
can thus deduct their value from your losses), 
are the only ones where I should advise you to 
try to pull your partner out of a double. 

The redouble is a very interesting subject, and 
a point of the game that holds many pitfalls for 
the unwary. // you have been doubled, and are 
sure you can make your bid, be very careful about 
redoubling! By so doing, you give your adver- 
sary a loophole through which to escape from 
his unfortunate double, and an opportunity to 
change it to a bid of his own. 

The only hand on which you should redouble, is 



THe Double 



57 



one on which you are not only practically sure of 
making your contract, but one where you are 
prepared to defeat the adversary if he attempts to 
get out with any bid whatever. The following 
hand will illustrate : 





C>8 

d|k764 
OJ10 853 
4Q965 




^ 10 7 4 3 2 

dlkAKQJ53 

09 


Y 

A B 

Z 


95 

4k 10982 
0Q43 
4 J 10 8 4 2 




9AKQJ96 

4k 

AK76 
♦ A73 


' 



The score on this hand was i8, all on the second 
game ; but A-B had lost rather heavily in penal- 
ties and were anxious to get them back. Z bid 
*'one heart/' 

A said ''two clubs.'* 

Y and B passed, and Z bid "two hearts. " 

A bid ''three clubs'* on his honors, his two 
singletons, and to push Z up. And when Z 



58 The Double 

went to ''three hearts " A doubled. I think most 
players would; he held five trumps to the ten 
(thus making his ten good if trumps were drawn) , 
and a wonderful club-suit. With this he ex- 
pected first to force Z — and later, to take a few 
rounds when trumps were exhausted. There 
was also a possibility of taking a trick with his 
king of spades. 

Z was delighted at the double, for he knew he 
could make his bid ; but he proved his right to the 
title of expert by refraining from redoubling. 
Why should he risk frightening A back to clubs? 
And A, or B, would certainly have gone to four 
clubs had Z redoubled, — and they could have 
made them. Z, of course, could have said 
''four hearts,*' but no one could have doubled 
him, his tricks would have been worth 8 apiece, 
instead of i6, and he would have lost his bonus. 

Every one passed and the play of the hand was 
intensely interesting. A led his king of clubs; 
Z trumped and led a high trump; he realized 
that A had probably five or six small trumps, 
and he wanted to see which. As soon as B 
followed once, Z read A's hand as well as though 
it were open. He dropped trumps, and began 
to establish Dummy's spade-queen as a re- 
entry card, so as to finesse Dummy's diamonds 
towards his own ; the chance of finding the queen 



TKe Do\ible 59 

of diamonds with B was his great hope. Z led 
the ace of spades, and seeing A's king fall, he led 
spades again. Now, whether Aruffed or discarded 
his losing diamond, Z had him badly beaten. 
If A ruffed and led a club, Z would take it, 
exhaust A's trumps, get into Dummy with the 
queen of spades, and make all his diamonds — a 
small slam ! If A discarded the diamond on the 
spade, Z would take with Dummy's queen and 
lead the jack of diamonds. This was what he 
did, in actual play; A then ruffed the diamond, 
and the result was the same — a small slam for Z. 

A could have saved one trick by refusing to 
ruff either the spade or the diamond (discarding 
clubs on them) , until Z had not another diamond 
to lead to Dummy. On that last round A should 
have trumped, but not till then. B would then 
have taken a spade trick, making two tricks 
instead of one; but, not seeing the other hands, 
it would have been a most unusual play. 

Z scored on that hand : 

6 tricks at i6 each 96 points 

4 honors in one hand 64 *' 

Small slam 20 '' 

Bonus 50 *' 

Three extra tricks (50 each) 150 " 

Total 380 points 



6o 



TKe Double 



Now suppose he had redoubled, and frightened 
A back to clubs; Z would then have said ''four 
hearts'' and no one would have doubled him. 
The hand would then have been worth : 



6 tricks at 8 each 48 points 

4 honors in one hand 64 '* 

Small slam 20 '' 



Total 132 points 

A foolish redouble would have cost Z just 
248 points! 

Here, on the contrary, is a hand on which A 
would have every reason to redouble: 



9aQ 

OAQ94 
♦ K Q 10 9 




^ K 10 9 6 
4k A 10 9 8 
0KJ8 

♦ aj 



^873 

4ii6433 

062 

48742 



The Double 6i 

It is the rubber-game and the score is 18-10, 
in favor of Z-Y. Z deals and bids ''one no- 
trump/' 

A can pass and make 100; or he can bid '*two 
royals, '' or ''two no-trumps. '' 

If he chooses the latter, Z might possibly- 
double. He has what is known as a "free'' 
double. If A makes his bid, he will go rubber 
anyhow, doubled or undoubled. Therefore, Z 
might as well get 100 a trick (instead of 50), if he 
defeats him. He holds five possible tricks. 

If Z doubles, A must redouble because: 

He is practically sure of making his bid. 

He could defeat "three royals" (should Z 
attempt them). He can also defeat "three 
hearts," "four diamonds," or "four clubs." 
He has, therefore, a sound redouble. 

Always think twice, then, before redoubling. 
And remember that you must not do it unless 
you can make your own bid, and can also defeat 
any bid that the adversary may make. 

The double will lose its terrors for you if 
you adhere strictly to this rule and to these 
following : 

Alv/ays double in preference to bidding, 
unless the bid will put you game. 

Remember that a poor double is worse than a 
poor bid; the adversary cannot go game or 



62 TKe Dovible 

rubber on your bid, no matter how poor; he may 
easily go game or rubber on your double. 

Never double a bid of one; it is too easy to 
make and too easy to change. 

Never double unless you are prepared to 
double again, no matter where the adversary 
jumps. 

When your partner has been doubled and has 
refrained from redoubling, remember ^4t may 
be from fright or delight.'' 

Never attempt to **pull your partner out'' 
of a double by makine^ a bid that you would not 
have made had there been no double. 



CHAPTER V 

THE CLUB CONVENTION 

The club convention is the child of the new 
count. Let me explain it to you. 

In old Bridge, if you were in the lead and your 
partner doubled no-trump, it was your place to 
lead your highest heart. This was known as the 
*' heart convention," and it made it imperative 
that third-hand should hold the ace of hearts 
in order to double no-trump. Some players 
objected to this convention, because it curtailed 
their chances of doubling ; so they substituted the 
''weak suit convention,'' by which the proper 
lead in doubled no-trump was the highest card of 
your weakest suit. This increased the oppor- 
tunities for doubling, but it was a rather risky 
thing, as the two partners were frequently weak 
in the same suit. However, it was played uni- 
versally in England, and had some admirers here. 

Then Auction came and all these conventions 
were done away with. If your partner had a 
good suit, he usually showed it by bidding; then 

63 



64 TKe Cl\ib Convention 

if he doubled the adversary's no-trump, you 
knew his suit and could lead it to him. If he 
doubled no-trump without ever naming a suit; it was 
a safe gamble that he was doubling on a long black 
suit whose value was too low to make it possible to 
bid it against no-trump — that is, clubs or spades. 
No one could bid either of these suits against 
''two no-trumps"; and yet, if a player held 
seven spades or clubs headed by the three 
highest cards — he could certainly defeat "two 
no-trumps,'' provided he could get the lead. 
Certain authorities advised you always to lead 
your highest spade in a doubled no-trump; 
but I contended that if you held a spade-honor 
yourself, your partner could n't be doubling 
on spades; his suit must be clubs. From that 
arose the rule: ''If your partner doubles no- 
trump without ever naming a suit, lead him the 
highest card of your own weakest black suit." 
Of course, there was always the chance that he 
might be doubling on general strength, and in 
that case, no lead could hurt him; he could 
certainly come in soon, no matter what was led. 
But now we are confronted by a new situa- 
tion. Under the new count, if your partner 
has wonderful spades, he will certainly bid them 
as "royals " once, at least. And even clubs have 
sufficient weight to hold their own against no- 



TKe Club Convention 



65 



trump. Therefore, if a player (not in the lead) 
doubles no-trump without ever naming a suit, 
what does he want led to him? 

There are two situations where such a double 
would be possible : one is where a player holds a 
long established suit which is too low in value to 
be bid against no-trumps (and clubs is the only 
such suit) ; and the other is where he is doubling 
on general strength — and then, no lead can hurt 
him. I will give you a hand to illustrate each situ- 
ation. Each time, pray imagine yourself to be A : 

^K64 

4I165 

Q 10 8 6 5 3 

4^97 



^AJ 10 9752 

02 
4^5432 


A 


Y 

Z 


B 


9 

4iAKQJ97 

O974 

4b A 10 8 6 



9Q83 

4^10832 
AKJ 
4bKQJ 

Z bids '*a no-trump. '' 

A, "two hearts, '* on a ten-point suit and two 
singletons. 
5 



66 TTKe Cl\Jib Convention 

Y would possibly say ''two no-trumps/' 
though I do not care for it. However, he stops 
the hearts and might wish to tell his partner so. 
So we will imagine him to bid ''two no-trumps. '* 

Now, two no-trumps are worth 20. It would 
take "four clubs'' to beat them, and B's hand 
(with three losing diamonds and three losing 
spades) would never warrant a bid of four. Yet, 
if he could be sure of having clubs led him he could 
easily double the no-trump bid. His book is five ; 
he has that many sure tricks in his hand, two more 
that are nearly sure, and his partner has shown 
heart-strength ; moreover, he could double "three 
royals, " his partner could double "three hearts, " 
the other side could not get out by a club-bid, 
and their only possible means of escape would be 
' ' three diamonds. ' ' Allowing a heart trick to A, 
a heart-ruff to B, together with his spade-trick 
and two club tricks (if they are not ruffed) , he 
has even a hand to defeat three diamonds. 

The point is this: if B held those same cards 
in any other suit, he could beat two no-trumps 
with a three-bid — three diamonds, three hearts, 
or three royals. Clubs, being the lowest suit, 
will necessitate a four-bid; but B can positively 
defeat the adversary's bid, if he is sure his 
double will be met with a club4ead from his 
partner. 



XKe Clxib Convention 



67 



The next hand is one where B doubles on 
general strength: 





964 
4l865 
087543 
4kJ97 




^AJ 10 9753 

4^43 

03 
4^543 


Y 

A B 

Z 


93 

♦ aK73 

Q J 10 9 

4KQ106 


< 

^ 

< 

i 


^KQ8 
Ik Q J 10 9 
0AK6 
|kA82 





Z, "a no-trump/' 

A, ''two hearts/' 
YandB^'by." 

Z, ''two no-trumps/* 
Aand Y, "by." 

B, "double." 

No lead can hurt B in this hand; and a club 
would suit him as well as anything else. If a 
player doubles no-trump on general strength he 
does n't greatly care what is led him; it is only 
when he is doubling on a long established suit 
that it is essential that you lead him that suit. 



68 



XHe Cl\ib Convention 



Remember then, if you ever find yourself in A's 
position, with a partner who doubles no-trumps 
without ever naming a suit, he does n't want a 
heart led him — hearts and no-trumps are so close 
in value, under the new count, that he could bid 
his hearts ;he does n't want a spade — if he had long 
spades he would bid them as royals. What he 
wants is a club, and it is your business to give it to 
him! This constitutes the '^club convention." 
Had B held those same cards in any other suit, 
not only would he have been able to beat two 
no-trumps with three in his suit (instead of 
four) , but his honors would have been so valuable 
as to make it profitable to risk losing the odd- 
Such a hand would be the following : 

d|b9762 

Q 10 8 6 5 4 

♦ 3 



9AJ10 9754 
4^543 

4^63 


A 


Y 

Z 


B 


93 

4k A 108 

097 

4kAKQJ974 



9Q82 

♦ kqj 

<> AKJ3 

410 8 5 



TTKe Club Convention 69 

If Z should open this hand with '*a no-trump, " 
and A should cover with ''two hearts, '' Y would 
make a mistake to say ''two no-trumps'' on such 
a weak hand. Many players, however, would 
do it to show that they stopped the hearts. In 
the event of such a bid, B is well able to bid his 
"three royals," and his honors are extremely 
valuable, besides. 

Players in A's position (i. e., those who find 
themselves in the lead, with a partner who has 
doubled no-trumps without ever showing suit) 
are not the only ones who must remember the 
"club convention.'' To those who sit in B's 
position its observance is just as necessary; 
such players must never make such a double^ unless 
it is convenient to them to have a club led. 



CHAPTER VI 

CHANGING A DOUBLE TO A BID 

I AM constantly surprised to see players 
changing their partners* doubles to bids, with 
no intervening bid from the adversary. Under 
the old count, this was correct, because we some- 
times doubled simply to show that we could stop 
a suit if our partners wanted to try no-trumps. 
The double did not mean that we wanted to 
play the suit, or that we could score if we did 
play it ; it meant only that we held a stopper in 
it. And we fully expected our partner to bid, 
after our double. 

Under the new count, we are not so anxious for 
no-trump, nor do we invite it by showing stop- 
pers. A double, therefore, means that we want 
to play the suit, and that we expect to make lOO a 
trick for every trick over two, three, four, or ftve, 
as the case may be (for no one ever doubles a 
one-bid). It means, moreover, that we can 
double any suit to which the adversary jumps. 

70 



CKanging a Doxible to a Bid 71 

Under these circumstances, what possible 
right can a partner have to interfere with our 
plans, and to drag us back to a suit that is worth 
but 6, or 7, or 8, or 9, a trick, — for every trick 
over six? How can that compare with the 
profits on a double? 

Suppose your partner has been bidding royals 
on a hand that holds 90 honors ; and suppose the 
adversary has been bidding hearts. When he 
gets to three or four hearts, you double him on 
your own hand and your partner's royals. You 
feel rather happy to think of the two, or three, 
or four hundred that you expect to make. 
And suppose your partner is so dazzled by his 
90 honors thati he goes back to his royals ! 
Would n't you have a right to feel discouraged? 

One of your doubled tricks would be worth 
more than all his honors; two of your tricks 
would beat a grand slam in royals with 90 honors, 
and three of your tricks would cast the rubber, 
itself, into the shade. 

I can never understand why players are so 
indifferent to these hundreds that they can 
make on doubled tricks, and so eager over their 
60, or 72, or 81, or 90 honors that they score by 
playing the hand. It must be because the 
honors are tangible, sure, and unusual : they are 
tangible, because there is no vagueness as to 



72 CHan^in^ a Doxible to a Bid 

what they will net you; they are sure, because 
the adversary cannot possibly steal them from 
you; and they are unusual because you do not 
often hold five honors in one hand. The chances 
for doubling and defeating the bid are much 
more frequent and are therefore less prized; 
and there is often the chance of an unpleas- 
ant surprise in seeing your double defeated. 
Nevertheless, in most instances a good double 
is infinitely preferable to playing the hand. 
It is only the over -fearful type of mind that 
will fail to appreciate this fact after a little 
practice. 

If your partner has doubled, let him alone, and 
don't interfere with his plans by making a bid 
of your own, unless — 

Your bid will give you a certain winning 
rubber, or — 

You are weak enough to know you will be a 
drag to him, or — 

You have made a previous bid which you fear 
has misled him and tempted him to an unwise 
double. 

In other words, you rarely change your part- 
ner's double to a bid because you feel strong, or 
because you have high honors: very few hands 
score a hundred, or two hundred by taking the 
play. But you do change his double to a bid if you 



CKan^in^ a Do\ible to a Bid 73 



are weaker than you have led him to believe. Here 
is a case in point : 



9 

d|k2 

O AQJ8 

4KQJ108652 




^ J 10 9 3 2 
d|b Q J 10 7 6 

4^97 



9AKQ84 

4kAK9853 

0K4 

A-B were one game in, and the score was 14-12 
in favor of Z-Y. 

Z bid ''a heart''; if he could take two-odd in 
hearts it would make the score game-all. 

A bid "a royal." 

Y had the ace of this suit, which made one 
sure trick, and his singleton club was a legitimate 
raiser; his was a wretched hand, but his bid of 
'*two hearts '' was strictly in accordance with the 
rule for raisers, and therefore cannot be criticized. 

B did not believe that the adversaries could 



74 CKangin^ a Dovible to a Did 

make "two hearts. '' He himself held five hearts 
to two honors, with the three top cards in 
sequence; he held a diamond singleton, rather 
nice clubs, and his partner had shown royals. 
It was a weak double and one of which I do not 
approve. But B could not raise his partner's 
royals at all; his singleton diamond would be a 
raiser if he had another trick in his hand, which 
he has n't. Guarded queens do not count as 
tricks in a declared trump unless they are trump 
queens. The principal objection to B's doubling 
"two hearts, '' is that he might frighten some one 
to "three diamonds,'' which would n't suit him 
at all. "Never double anything unless you can 
double everything!" 

The original B felt, however, that he had a 
"free" double. Two-odd in hearts, even un- 
doubled, would put the adversaries game. So 
B doubled two hearts. 

It was a most unfortunate move, for Z-Y 
could make four-odd in hearts, with the greatest 
ease. 

Z was delighted at the double. His three 
master hearts, his splendid clubs, his spade ruff, 
and his partner's raise all made him sure that his 
bid would go through. A poor player in Z's 
place would have become panic-stricken and 
jumped to "three clubs," which would have 



CKangin^ a Do\able to a Bid 75 

suited B to perfection. Or he would have re- 
doubled the ''two hearts,'' and frightened A 
back to royals. Z did neither ; he passed. 

Z passed, and A did the very thing we are 
discussing — he changed his partner's double to a 
bid, with no bid from the intervening hand. 

A's hand was valueless except in royals, and 
he feared his partner was playing him for the 
ace of spades, which he did not hold. Moreover, 
he was chicane in hearts. And (as a third 
reason) if he made two-odd in royals he would 
go rubber. Therefore he bid ''two royals.** 

He did not do this because of his 72 honors 
or his strength in royals. He did it partly from 
weakness (lacking hearts and the ace of spades), 
and partly to the score (he could go rubber on 
his bid). 

If that had been the beginning of a rubber, 
and if A had held the ace of spades, he should 
have passed, even though he could make his 
royals, and his partner (in this case) could not 
make his double. But A does not know that ; 
he has every reason to suppose that B's double is 
sound; if it is, they make a hundred a trick for 
every trick over five, or 300 for eight tricks. 
And by playing royals A could make but five 
tricks at 9 each, plus ^2 honors, a total of 
117. 



76 CKangin^ a Doxible to a Bid 



Here is another hand totally different, but 
illustrating the same principle: 

^97632 
4^9743 





♦ a 

QJ8653 
4k Q 10 8 6 3 



♦ AJ94 




Y 




A 


B 


Z 





^ A Q J 10 5 4 

4^10 8 6 52 
09 



9k 

A K 10 7 4 2 
4^752 

It is the first hand of a new rubber; penalties 
are therefore more desirable than playing the 
hand — unless one could go game in the hand. 

Z bids "a diamond, '' and A passes. 

Y is in an unpleasant position. He is chicane 
in his partner's suit, but I certainly should not 
advocate his bidding '*a royal*' on a four-card, 
six-point suit, with nine wretched side cards in 
his hands. He would like to warn his partner 
of his weakness in diamonds, but I do not see 
how it is possible. Suppose he should say '*a 



CHan^in^ a Do\ible to a Bid 77 

royal''; B would immediately cover with ''two 
hearts, '' Z would not want to lose his hand to a 
heart-bid; he might say ''three diamonds" 
(and be defeated), or he might raise his partner's 
royals, — which would lead to trouble. That 
is the worst of bidding on a hand like Y's; Z 
would consider it a sound bid, his diamonds, 
clubs, and singleton heart would give him a 
number of raises — and they would come to 
certain grief. 

But suppose Y passes, as I think he certainly 
should, then B will bid "one heart," and Z will 
say "two diamonds." A cannot double for 
fear some one will say "three clubs," which he 
cannot hope to defeat ; he must pass, Y will pass, 
and B (unconscious of his partner's desire for 
diamonds) will say "two hearts." 

Z has not a three-diamond hand, — especially 
when the score demands nothing from him ; ace- 
king- ten is a very poor combination, and his 
partner has given him no raise. Still it is an 
every-day occurrence to see players bid three on 
hands no stronger than Z's. 

If Z says "three diamonds," A will simply 
have to double to keep his partner from going up 
in hearts. It would take four clubs from Y to 
pull him out of the double, and that is a pretty 
big hand to have kept quiet all this time. A-B 's 



78 CKangin^ a Doxible to a Bid 

book would be three; A holds the ace of clubs, 
his partner has shown hearts, and it does n't 
look as if any one could make four-odd against 
them. Certainly no one can get out with a 
*' three no-trump'' bid; A holds the master club, 
good diamonds and spades, and his partner has 
shown hearts. 

A doubles three diamonds, trusting no one 
will bid clubs. Should the adversary try it, B 
has his hearts and may be able to bid them, or to 
defeat the club bid. 

After A's double, Y passes. And B would be 
more than foolish to go back to his hearts, in 
spite of his 64 honors. What is 64 compared 
with 100? 

Z can take but the book in diamonds, and he 
cannot take that unless he plays very well. A 
will lead to his partner's bid the eight of hearts. 
B will know that to be A's highest heart, and the 
moment Dummy goes down he will realize that 
Z has a singleton king and that A has no more 
hearts. B will therefore take the first round with 
the ace and lead the queen. Now, if Z tries 
trumping with a low trump, or even with his 
ten, he will lose heavily. He must trump 
with the king and lead his ace in order to pull 
two trumps for one. This will spoil B's spade 
ruff on the second round. Z must also put up his 



CKan^ing a Double to a Bid 79 

spade ace on the first round, and must continue 
to force A with clubs — making A ruff and lead 
up to him. In this way he can manage to take 
the book — no more. 

This gives A-B 300 points — provided they 
have doubled. That is more than the rubber; 
and to win such heavy penalties on the first 
game is a marvelous help. It puts the other 
side at an immediate disadvantage and hampers 
them continually. 

If B plays the hand at hearts he can just take 
the game; 32 points and 64 honors are the best 
he can do. A total of 96 points against 300! 

If A-B were 8 or 10 points on the rubber 
game, B might be excused for changing A's 
double to a bid ; otherwise he would be extremely 
foolish to do such a thing. Yet players fall 
constantly into this error. It is the prevailing 
mad desire to capture the bid and play the hand 
that is the cause of so much trouble. 

An odd thing about this hand is that Y would 
be able to make the book in royals, in spite of 
what looks like a wretched hand. By very clever 
playing he could make the book, but not the odd. 
Give him a higher heart or club, and he could 
pull out the odd against the best defense. 

One more hand will be sufficient proof of 
the futility of changing doubles to bids : 



8o CKan^in^ a Do\ible to a Bid 



♦ kqio 
Ok J 10 

4^KQ4 



^ K 10 7 6 5 3 

♦ j 

OQ852 
4^10 5 




^4 

41i98762 
0974 
4^ J983 



Z opens with a ''no-trump" on his hundred 
aces and a very miserable hand. 

A says ''two hearts" on an eight-point make, 
a singleton, a doubleton, and a guarded honor 
in the remaining side-suit. 

An amateur in Y's place would say "two 
no-trumps," because he stopped the hearts. 
If Y is a good player he will realize that with 
such cards as he holds, and a partner who bids 
no-trumps, they can defeat anything. He will 
therefore double two hearts and make the tricks 
worth a hundred apiece. Do you know any 
suit that is worth that? 

B will pass, and Z will make the mistake of 



CKanging a Do\ible to a Bid 8 1 

his life if he changes that double to a bid; not- 
withstanding his hundred aces. One doubled 
trick will equalize these — and no-trumps are 
worth but 10 a trick. 

In "two hearts, " doubled, Z-Y will make 500, 
— the value of two rubbers. By playing the 
hand at no-trump, they will make 60 points 
plus 20 for a slam plus 100 aces — a total of 
180 and a loss of 320. Of course, they have all 
the cards; but there is absolutely no way in 
which it is possible to score 500 on your own 
declaration. 

Let these hands convince you of the value of 
a double, as opposed to a bid. And if your 
partner doubles and the next hand passes, never 
bid against that double, unless from weakness, 
from the certainty of taking a winning rubber, 
or from fear that a previous bid of yours has 
misled your partner in regard to your hand. 

6 



CHAPTER VII 

THROWING AWAY A HUNDRED ACES 

In Bridge, of course, such a thing as throwing 
away a hundred aces was unheard of. Their value 
was as great as the rubber value ; they were things 
to be longed for, but seldom acquired. In Auction 
there are so many opportunities for gathering in 
the hundreds that four aces do not seem anything 
stupendous. Your Auction stake should be one- 
fifth of your Bridge stake. If you used to play 
Bridge at 5 cents a point, you should play Auction 
at I cent a point. They are nearly equal stakes ; 
therefore, one hundred aces in Auction are about 
equal to twenty honor points in Bridge — just the 
value of a small slam. Nothing very wonderful, 
you see ! 

Here is a sample of a hand on which I should 
choose a suit-bid in preference to no-trump — 
even with four aces in the hand. 

9a 

4kA2 
<> A5 4 

4kAKJ10 764 

82 



THro-win^ Arwety lOO Aces 83 

I should certainly bid that hand ''a royal," 
father than ''a no-trump/' Royals are worth 
but one point less than no-trump; there is not 
a face-card in the hand, outside the spade-suit, 
and there is a singleton, a doubleton, and a 
three-card suit. Played at royals, the oppor- 
tunities for rufl&ng are wonderful; and the 72 
honors are valuable in themselves. But even 
with simple honors, I should bid ''a royal'' on 
that hand. 

Here is another combination on which 
the dealer, holding a hundred aces, opened 
with ''a no-trump," and later abandoned the 
suit: 



965 

OKQ J10976 
4k J 10 7 



9 10 7 2 

4k 



085432 

4kK9643 




9kQJ8 
4kKQJ10 842 



4^Q5 



84 TTHro^win^ -A."way lOO Aces 

Z opened this hand with "a no-trump/' 
A said ''two diamonds, " and Y passed; B lacked 
his partner's suit, so he said ''three clubs,'' on 
seven to four honors, his ruff, his partner's 
diamonds, and his good hearts. 

Z was practically sure of his ability to defeat 
"three clubs"; his book was four, he had two 
club rounds and three other aces — making the 
odd in his own hand alone. His ace of diamonds 
would be ruffed, but he did not know that. 
However, his partner's king of spades would be 
a trick. 

B could never make any use of A's diamonds, 
because he had none to lead, and because A 
held no side re-entry. 

Z hesitated about doubling "three clubs,'* 
because he feared frightening A to "three 
diamonds," which he was not entirely sure he 
could defeat. If all his aces took, that made the 
book, and he would have to trust his partner 
for the odd. Moreover, with a "three-club" 
bid from B, and five clubs to the ace in Z's 
own hand, there was a strong probability that 
A held no clubs and could ruff Z's ace, if 
diamonds were trumps. 

If Z allowed B to play "three clubs" and 
defeated him by one trick, undoubled, he would 
make fifty and lose his hundred aces. If he 



Throwing' Away lOO Aces 85 

bid ''two no-trumps '' himself, he got his hundred 
aces, but would probably lose heavily in penal- 
ties — with a ''two-diamond" hand on one side 
of him and a "three-club" hand on the other. 
And, finally, if Z doubled the "three-club" bid, 
he would make a hundred in penalties (as much 
as his aces were worth), but he would risk fright- 
ening A to "three diamonds, " which he was not 
sure of defeating. 

Z decided to double "three clubs," and to 
double again if A tried "three diamonds." 
With four aces in one's hand it is fairly safe to 
double a three-bid in anything. 

A refused to raise. He held six losing cards 
and lacked the ace of his own suit, which he was 
practically sure of finding in Z's hand. That 
made seven losing tricks, as far as he could tell, 
and he knew, moreover, that Z was too good a 
player to double anything unless he could double 
everything. 

A passed, Y passed, and B did the most 
remarkable thing I ever knew — he jumped to 
three hearts. 

He did this because he hoped to find more help 
with his partner than he could get in clubs, and 
because he had been doubled in clubs and hoped 
(by some fluke) he would not be doubled in 
hearts. But he was doomed to disappointment ; 



86 THroiAring A^way lOO Aces 

Z promptly doubled ''three hearts/' and every 
one passed. 

B was very unwise in his last bid ; he could not 
lose much in clubs, and he had a splendid long 
line of them with which to ruff his missing suit 
and his short suit. In hearts he had but four 
trumps, and no one cares to do much ruffing with 
a four-card suit. However, he argued that 
diamonds, hearts, and clubs were all on his side, 
leaving but one suit against him, and that his 
partner might easily lack clubs (with two big 
club hands against him), and they could estab- 
lish a cross-ruff in clubs and diamonds. This 
last idea was a clever one. 

In ''three hearts" doubled, Z-Y make 300 — 
three times the value of those aces. Z leads; he 
will not lead his ace of diamonds, for fear of 
establishing a long suit for Dummy; he will not 
lead the club, for fear Dummy has none and will 
get a ruff; and he will not lead trumps. He 
leads the ace of spades, and Y plays the nine 
(an encouragement card) to show the king. 
Then, no matter how B plays, he can not fail to 
lose 300 against the best defense. 

In "doubled three clubs,'' B's loss would 
have been 100. His shift to hearts was a 
bad move, even though it required no 
heavier contract. A three-bid on a four- 



TKro^wing A-way lOO Aces 87 

card suit presupposes too much help from 
one's partner. 

Here is one more hand that has recently come 
under my observation where a heart-bid (even 
without simple honors) proved more profitable 
than a no-trump with a hundred aces. Z, the 
dealer, held these cards: 

^ AK7533 
4I1A6 
A8 
♦ A43 

He opened with **a heart/' meaning to go to 
no-trump later, if the bidding warranted it. 
And there was no bidding. Every one passed, 
and the hand was played at one heart, scoring 
three-odd, with simple honors to the adversaries. 
Had it been played at no-trump the dealer could 
have taken but five-odd, as his partner had an 
absolutely blank hand; the penalties, therefore, 
would have exactly balanced Z's aces. 

Remember, then, that, though a hundred aces 
were never a negligible quantity in Bridge, 
and were rarely so even in Auction, under the 
old count, under the new count they are not so 
wonderful. The new suit of royals holds very 
valuable possibilities in honors and, in addition, 



88 TKrowin^ A.^way lOO Aces 

makes it fairly easy to go game in the hand. 
When you hold good spades or good hearts y running 
to the ace, and when all your other suits are very 
short and hold no other honors but the ace, choose 
the suit-bid in preference to no-trump! 



CHAPTER VIII 

QUEEN-SUITS 

A BID on a suit that is headed by the queen 
is known as an ^'irregular'' bid; irregular, but 
not necessarily prohibited. First -round bid on 
jack-suits and ten-suits are prohibited bids. 
Ace-suits and king-suits are standard bids, and 
the most conservative authorities permit no 
others. I see no reason to bar queen-suit bids, 
under certain conditions. 

If a queen-suit contains one or two other 
honors (the jack, the ten, or the jack-ten), 
if it is unusually long, and if the hand holds 
outside strength (such as aces, kings, and ruffs), 
but does not admit of any other bid, I should bid 
on the queen-suit to avoid a one-spade bid. 
With such a hand as that, you can scarcely lose 
more than two-odd, which would be what the 
adversaries would probably take on the spade- 
penalty. It is not as discouraging to your 
partner as the spade-bid, it sometimes strikes a 
lucky combination in his hand; and, if it does 

89 



90 Qxaeen-Suits 

not, he can generally warn you of his weak- 
ness, either by a backward bid or a forward 
bid. 

Now the fact that I consider a queen-bid 
allowable under these circumstances does not 
mean that I approve of bids of two or three 
on queen-suits; or of one, even, on a queen 
and four or five little spots; or of queen- 
bids from players who are not the dealer 
and are therefore not forced to bid; or of 
queen-bids on any hand that does not hold 
outside strength. 

Queen-suits, if they be long enough, are 
all right as trumps, but they are not always 
left as trumps, and they are wretched things 
as side-suits, or at no-trumps. It takes three 
rounds to establish a queen-suit; sometimes 
the partner lacks that third card, and the 
queen-high hand has no other re-entry; that 
spells trouble! 

If you are going to bid on a queen-suity 
choose one of the two high suits (hearts or 
royals), for the simple reason that your 
partner will not change them to no-trump 
as he would a lower suit. There is so little 
difference in the value of a no-trump and a 
royal, or a no-trump and a heart, that there 
is little object in changing them; in fact, 



Queen-S\iits 91 

it is specially forbidden. A good heart or a 
good royal is good enough for any one. It 
takes but one more trick to go game in them 
than in no-trump; and if your partner has a 
no-trump hand he will give you that extra 
trick. The only time when he shoiild change 
your heart (or royal) bid to no-trump, is when 
he wants to warn you of his weakness — when 
he holds little or nothing in your suit, but 
protects every other. After this one warning, 
if you go back to your own suit, he should 
let you alone. 

For this reason, it is less risky to bid on queen- 
suits in hearts or royals than in clubs or 
diamonds. Those, your partner might easily 
change to no-trumps, — and he would be apt to 
feel very disappointed when he saw what your 
bid meant. 

Again, a queen-suit bid may prove very 
misleading if your partner essays a double. 
Say you have bid hearts and the other side 
bids diamonds; your partner may hold two 
or three little hearts and may count one 
of them, at least, as a sure trick in your 
hand, and all three rounds may easily go to 
the adversaries — twice to the ace and king, 
and the third time to a ruff. Let me illustrate 
with a hand : 



92 



Q 


vieen-S\iits 


\ 

1 


^54 
4kA543 
A74 

(jk AK84 




9AK1033 

4k72 
OKQJ95 

46 


Y 

A B 

Z 


2' 

4kKQJ8 
10 8 6 
♦ Q 10 973 


i 


^QJ986 
fil0 9 6 

(|^ J52 





If Z opens this hand with *'a heart," A may 
say ^'two diamonds, '' both because he can make 
it, and because he wants to push Z to ''two 
hearts, '' or he may sit still. 

Now if A bids two, Y will know that his book 
is five; he has four tricks in his hand, and the 
chance of a ruff in his partner's suit. If Z can 
take one or two rounds in hearts, Y is safe in 
doubling; and if Y were behind in penalties, he 
would be very apt to seize this opportunity to 
catch up. 

If Z belongs to the school that bids two to show 
a long weak suit, if he is allowed to play it as 
''two hearts" his plight is pitiful, and certainly 



Q\ieen-S\jiits 93 

the adversaries would never take him out. If 
his partner comes to the rescue with ''two no 
trumps" (the only possible thing he could 
venture), they are no better off. So much for 
opening bids of two, to show long weak suits! 

Z is safer on that hand with "a spade'* than 
with anything else, because his losses are limited 
to 100. He would lose no more at royals, and 
his honors would be i8 instead of 4. Y might 
try a ''rescue" with a royal, and lose just the 
same as at a spade (with the exception of 
honors), 100 — 18, instead of 100 — 4, but it 
would be rather a risky bid from Y. 

All this does not mean that you should never 
bid on a queen-suit, but it does mean that 
queen-suits are worthless except as trumps; 
that the bid may mislead your partner as to 
doubles and no-trump bids; and that queen- 
suits must be unusually long, or that the hand 
must hold other strength, such as aces and ruffs. 
In the present hand there is absolutely nothing 
to excuse the bid, with the possible exception of 
the short diamonds. And even with the dia- 
mond ace in his partner's hand, Z cannot make it. 

As a matter of fact, it presupposes a no-trump 
hand from Y, in order that Z's heart-bid shall go 
through. And if Y has so good a hand, he may 
as well be the one to bid it. If he has n't, Law 



94 Queen-S\aits 

48 should be their refuge. Z himself holds ten 
losing cards, no ace, and no ruff, and his best 
suit is queen-high. Therefore his bid is '^one 
spade. '* 



CHAPTER IX 

THE PASSING OF NO-TRUMP 

The passing of no-trump is like the ''Twilight 
of the Gods." The old idol, so mistakenly- 
adored, is being rapidly overthrown, to give 
place to the new order of things. 

All beginners love a no-trump hand; nothing 
else so appeals to them. But as they progress 
in the game they realize the sameness in no- 
trumps, and the small field they allow for skill 
and judgment. All no-trumpers are played in 
pretty much the same way. You establish your 
long suit and then proceed to slide down it, the 
only skill necessary is to avoid blocking your suit 
(which means only that you must first play the 
high cards in your short hand) , and an occasional 
elemental finesse to catch a missing honor. And 
there you are ! And no amount of skill will en- 
able the adversaries to break in upon you ; they 
have nothing to do but to toss their aces and 
kings on to the deuces and treys of your long es- 
tablished suits. It is simply a matter of cards. 

95 



96 XKe Passing of No-Triamp 

All hands depend on the cards that you hold, 
but no-trumpers more than any other. In a 
manner of speaking, no-trumpers must come 
ready-made, and suit-bids can be created by a 
certain amount of skill. See how many things 
you can do in a suit-hand: you can exhaust 
trumps and make your side-suits, you can use 
the weak-hand trumps for ruffing losing cards, 
you can establish a cross-ruff, and when you 
find that the other side is longer in trumps than 
you are yourself, you can use infinite skill in 
forcing them with side-suits until you yourself 
hold the ''long'' trump. And they, on their 
side, can use infinite skill in deciding whether or 
not to allow themselves to be forced. 

No-trump is like blind luck, and suit-makes are 
like open-eyed skill. And just as no-trump is 
overwhelmingly easy when the cards fall right, 
so it is overwhelmingly impossible when they 
fall wrong. You cannot make schemes and lay 
pitfalls with side-suits; every one knows just 
exactly what you want and what you are 
planning. Every one realizes that a well- 
guarded jack, held on the safe side, will take the 
fourth round of a suit, and no one is going to 
throw away that jack, or unguard him. You 
can always count ahead, and there is no way of 
discounting that calculation. Whereas in a 



TKe Passing of No-Tmamp 97 

suit-bid, the fact that the fourth round of a suit 
will be sure to be ruffed somewhere (if played 
before trumps are exhausted), will alter all 
calculations. 

Take the lead of a thirteener. In no-trump 
it is a perfectly obvious play; if you hold the 
thirteenth card of a suit, no one can possibly 
take it. Now suppose you mistakenly lead a 
thirteener in a declared trump; immediately 
the skill of the player is put to the test to decide 
in which hand to ruff it, and in which to discard 
a losing card. 

Then the opportunities of the adversaries to 
lead trumps in a suit-bid, when the player him- 
self is hesitating to do so ! To lead them against 
a cross-ruff — even at the expense of a cherished 
honor ! To hold up the ace of trumps against the 
player in order to make him pull two trumps for 
one as long as possible! 

Long ago one of the greatest of authorities 
said that he thought Auction would be a better 
game if no-trump could be eliminated and every 
hand played as a declared trump. And among 
good players it is considered almost a test of a 
person's expertness to find how much or how 
little he cares for no-trump. 

No-trump will never be dropped from the 
game; so its devotees need not take alarm. But 
7 



98 TKe Passing of No-Tr\imp 

the new count has certainly put it in its proper 
place. It is the highest suit, but it is by no 
means the only suit. Under the old count it 
was so overwhelmingly important that almost 
every hand was a no-trump race — to see who 
could get there first. Special conventions of 
bid and double were established in order to 
arrive at the much-desired destination. The 
abolishment of those conventions testifies to the 
decrease in the popularity of no-trump bids. 
When two hands out of every three were played 
as no-trump by some one of the four players, the 
variety of the game was gone and it lost in 
interest. 

Now no-trump remains the highest suit, and 
the only one in which it is possible to go game 
with three-odd. But it is worth much less, and 
the other suits are worth much more, than 
formerly. Then there is a new suit (royals), 
the opportunities for which were entirely 
wasted under the old count. Formerly, if you 
held good spades, they were perfectly worthless 
unless you could play them in a no-trump hand ; 
now, you can declare them in a suit of their own, 
and that suit is but one point less valuable than 
no-trump itself. No-trump used to be worth 
three times as much as clubs; now it is worth 
but one and two-thirds as much. It is simply 



THe Passing of No-Triamp 99 

one of five fairly equal suits, instead of being the 
great and only one. 

I have taken from recent actual play some 
hands that testify to all that I have just been 
saying. Here is one: 



\ 


V?Q864 

4^10 8 6 

A K 10 3 3 




^3 

4kK953 

095 

4 A98642 


Y 

A B 

Z 


^ A J 10 9 3 

J76 
4KJ753 


{ 
1 


^K75 

4feAQ J743 
0Q84 





This hand occurred at ''compass** auction; 
eight persons were playing, duplicate boards were 
used, the hands passed from one table to the 
other, and a record of all bids was kept. The 
advantages of good bidding over bad bidding 
were marked. At the first table the bidding 
was correct. It ran as follows : 

Z— "One club." 



100 THe Passing of No-Trump 

A— ''One royal.'' 

Y — ''Two clubs." Y might have said "two 
diamonds/' but under the new count, when 
your suit and your partner's suit are but one 
point apart, it is better to dovetail your hand 
with his and to use your suit as a side-suit and 
a raiser. And it made no difference in this 
hand whether Y bid clubs or diamonds, — A-B 
could outbid him with royals. 

B— "Two royals." 

Z—" Three clubs." 

Aand Y— "Pass." 

B—" Three royals." 

A-B took five tricks (45), plus simple honors 
(18) — a total of 63. They had the winning 
combination ; all that Z-Y could hope to do was 
to keep them down as low as possble. 

At the other table, the opening bid itself was 
a mistake. Z opened with "two clubs," and 
by so doing cut out the royal information, which 
would have warned him away from the no-trump 
bid, through which he finally came to grief. 

A and Y passed, and B bid "two hearts" 
(I should have preferred "two royals" by the 
process of elimination, and to keep the ace-suit 
for aside-suit). 

Z and A passed, and Y said "two no-trumps" 
on his partner's clubs, his own diamonds, his 



TTHe Passing of No-Trump loi 

heart-stopper, and the hope that his partner 
could stop spades. If people would only come 
to realize what pitfalls singletons and missing 
suits are in no-trumps much trouble would be 
saved. 

B made an unwarranted bid of ''three hearts*' 
on his missing club-suit; if the other side had 
been clever enough to let him alone they could 
have defeated him, but Z said ''three-no- 
trumps.'' 

B was in the lead. He did n't want to lead 
hearts up to a declared stopper, he had no clubs, 
and he hoped that by some stroke of luck his 
jack of diamonds might be good. He led his 
fourth-best spade, and A-B made seven tricks 
before Y could get in. One hundred and fifty 
points instead of the 63 they made at the other 
table. Z-Y had more than doubled their 
losses by their no-trump bid. 

Remember that you cannot possibly lose as 
much on the adversary's bid as on your own. 
If A-B won that rubber, it was worth 400 
instead of 250. If they lost the next two 
games, they would lose rubber anyhow, and 
150 would make a much better offset than 
would 63. 

On another hand Z opened with "one dia- 
mond, " holding these cards: 



102 THe Passing of No-Trximp 



9^6 


4b 


OKQJ10 863 


4 J987 


A and Y passed, and B held this hand: 


^ A92 


d|kA743 


A 


4AKQ102 



At table one, B bid that hand correctly as 
*'a royar* (in spite of his hundred aces), 
because : 

He had 72 royal-honors, and the chance of a 
small slam, which would raise his honors to 92 — 
as against 100. 

He realized that, with eight spades against 
him, the jack might well be guarded. If it were, 
he had but six tricks in his hand. 

He knew that the singleton ace of the adver- 
sary's suit was a wonderful asset in declared 
trumps, and a wonderful drawback in no-trumps. 
The other side would naturally lead diamonds, 
and his ace would fall on the first round. 

At the second table, on the contrary, B was so 
dazzled with those aces that he bid up to ''three 
no-trumps''; he scored 100 for aces and lost 
five tricks doubled — a total loss of 400 on the 



TKe Passing of No-Trump 103 

hand. Even if that jack of spades had not been 
guarded his reasoning was poor. 

The other B failed of his small slam, but he 
made five-odd in royals plus 72 honors — a total 
of 117. His profit over his adversary at the 
other table was 517 points. 

A split-hand is a no-trumper. By a ^* split'' 
hand I mean one where the strength is evenly 
divided and the suits lie in groups of three or 
four. Bid no-trump on a hand of that sort, 
provided it contains no sound bid in royals or 
hearts. 

A hand with one long established suit and two 
side re-entries used to be a no-trumper. Now 
it calls emphatically for a bid on the long estab- 
lished suit. 

Hands holding singletons are dangerous no- 
trumpers. Think of the opportunities of ruffing 
that suit in a declared trump. Even if your 
singleton be an ace, it is a far more valuable 
possession in a declared trump than in no- 
trump. 

I should never dream of bidding no-trump on a 
hand with a blank suit. The adversaries may 
hold thirteen cards of one suit against you! 
One of our earliest maxims was: ''Length is 
strength in no-trump." It follows, conversely, 
that shortness is weakness. And what, I ask 



I04 XHe Passing of No-Xrviinp 

you, is so deplorably ** short" as a suit in which 
you hold not a single card? 

One more hand which has recently come under 
my observation will be proof enough of the 
safety of a declared trump, as opposed to no- 
trump: 

d|b 10 8 6 4 3 
KQ J852 
♦ lO 



^ K J 10 7 6 5 

d|iJ5 

09 

♦,A872 




9Q432 
4»A97 
06 
4^96543 



♦ kQ2 
A 10 7 4 3 
4bKQJ 



Z opens this hand with ''a no-trump." It is 
a split-hand of divided strength, and holds but 
one weak suit. No-trump should never be bid 
with two unprotected suits; that demands too 
much of one's partner. On the other hand, to 
wait for all four suits to be protected, is to spend 
one's time waiting. 



TTKe Passing of No-Trump 105 

Z has but one unprotected suit. If his 
partner also lacks that suit, it will almost surely 
be bid against them. 

A does this very thing: he bids ''two hearts." 

The original Y wanted to say ''two no- 
trumps/' because he held the ace of the ad- 
versary's suit, and an excellent suit of his own. 

Y's proper bid is, unquestionably, "three 
diamonds,'' because: 

The singleton ace of the adversary's suit is an 
asset in a declared trump, and a drawback in 
no-trump. Also: 

Y 's partner , Z , has a no-trump hand and can hold 
but one weak suit. If that suit is diamonds, he 
can go back to his no-trump bid (if he likes) , trust- 
ing Y to take care of diamonds. He can do this 
without increase of contract. If, on the other hand, 
Z's weak suit is not diamonds, he and Y, together, 
hold a perfect "three-diamond" bid. Also: 

Y has another singleton in his hand. With 
two singletons, a hand should certainly be 
played as a declared trump. 

Just lay out this hand and play it both ways, if 
you. need convincing. In diamonds, Y loses 
but two tricks, — the two black aces. In no- 
trumps, he and Z cannot make two-odd in spite 
of their excellent cards. The bid is killed by the 
two singletons. 



CHAPTER X 

SUBTLETY VERSUS OBVIOUSNESS 

While I never fail to warn my pupils against 
erratic '* brilliancy, '' and beg them always to 
be solid and reliable partners, yet I am a firm 
believer in subtlety of play as opposed to ob- 
viousness. It is never well to run the risk of 
mystifying your partner, but there are many 
occasions when your choice of suit can make no 
difference to him, and can do a great deal toward 
benefiting you and inconveniencing the adver- 
sary. These are the occasions when you should 
be subtle rather than obvious; the obvious 
game is like a slow, heavy plodding cart-horse; 
the subtle game is like a spirited thoroughbred 
hunter. 

Here is a hand that admirably illustrates : 

1 06 



Siabtlety vs. Obvio\isness 107 



10 6 5 2 



4tKQ974 

<>K7 

4^ AQ765 




^ A982 
4I1865 
J943 
4 J9 



^K1043 
4lll0 2 
O AQ8 
4b K 10 6 3 
The score is 18 to 10 in favor of A-B; it 
will be a winning rubber for whichever side 
makes it, and both sides are eager to capture 
the play. 

Z deals and opens with a no-trump. 
A has a choice of two bids — ''two clubs'' or 
*'two royals"; in the original game he chose 
"two clubs," for the following reasons (notice 
the subtle reasoning) : He keeps his ace-suit for 
a side-suit, so that if his partner should chance 
to hold a singleton they would not lose a round 
in the suit; twelve points are sufficient to put 
him rubber; and his partner can overcall, if 
necessary, without increase of contract. 

Y stops the clubs and bids ''two no-trumps" 



io8 Siibtlety vs. Obviovisness 

to save rubber. He has very little hope of 
defeating ^^two clubs/' and with a two-club 
bid from A and the ace-jack small in Y's own 
hand, Y feels sure that his partner must be 
weak in clubs and does not want them for trumps. 

B and Z pass, and the bid comes round to A. 

A now realizes that the ace of clubs lies over 
him, and will kill either his king or his queen 
(with the ace in Z's hand he might make both 
his king and queen) ; he realizes, too, that Y may 
easily hold the guarded jack of clubs. With 
clubs as trumps, Y would take the first round, 
lose the second, and still hold the master-trump. 
Therefore, A abandons his clubs and bids 
''three royals. '* He counts his king of diamonds 
as a sure trick, provided diamonds are led from 
any hand but his; for, with the good spades 
(including the ace) in A's hand, and the good 
clubs divided between A and Y (Y holding the 
ace) , it is more than probable that Z holds ace or 
king in each red suit in order to bid no-trump. 
He does not hold the diamond king ; therefore he 
must hold the diamond ace. A's king is then safe. 

You see what a perfect example of "inference " 
this reasoning is. 

Y and B pass. If Z has any hopes of defeating 
'* three royals, '' he is doomed to disappointment, 
for A can make them without the slightest trouble. 



Sxibtlety vs. Obvioxisness 109 

The original Z, however, was too good a player 
not to realize that four trumps (not in sequence) 
lying on the wrong side of the bid make a very 
weak defeating hand, even if they are headed by 
the king, and if the bid is three. Z had no idea 
of allowing A to take the rubber so easily, so he 
bid *' three no-trumps''; he expected to lose, but 
he hoped not to lose too heavily. He had 
diamonds and a stopper in hearts and spades, 
and his partner could stop clubs and sat on the 
proper side to do it. 

Z realized that his stopper in spades was not a 
good one, but he hoped that B had very few 
taking cards and could not lead through him very 
often (a perfectly well-warranted hope, with the 
other three players all bidding on the hand). 

After the *' three-no-trump" bid, every one 
passes, and it is A's original lead and B's play 
to that lead that I wish especially to point out 
to you. 

Every player at that table realizes that A 
holds a club-make and Y holds a club-stopper; 
in other words, the club-stopper lies over the 
bid and cannot be led through. And every 
player also realizes that A holds a royal-make 
and Z holds a royal stopper, which, however, is 
under the bid and can easily be led through. 
Therefore: 



no S\ibtlety vs. Obviovjsness 

He must not lead spades; they must come to 
him. 

He must not lead clubs ; if by any chance they 
should come to him from Y's hand he can make 
both his king and his queen. 

He certainly must not lead a diamond, for he 
knows that Z holds the ace; his own king will 
thus be safe if the diamond lead comes from any 
hand but his own. 

He can lead nothing but a heart. 

He leads his jack of hearts, and Dummy goes 
down with four to the queen. Most players, 
holding Z's cards, would put up the queen on 
that much overrated principle of ''covering 
an honor with an honor.'' Z realizes that B 
must hold the ace of hearts ; by playing Dummy's 
queen, he can force the ace and establish his 
own king and ten. 

This Z is too clever for that. With three 
honors (jack, queen, ace) on one trick, the 
nine may easily become established for the 
adversary. He plays lovv^ from Dummy meaning 
to take with his king, if B withholds the ace ; and 
if B puts up the ace, the queen, king, and ten 
are all good in Z's two hands. 

(Let this example be a warning to you against 
invariably ''covering an honor with an honor." 
I wish that rule had never been made !) 



Sxibtlety vs. Obviousness m 

B sees his partner's jack uncovered by Dummy 
and knows that Z must hold the king of hearts. 
If he ''ducks'' the trick, Z's king will take; and 
if he puts up his ace, he makes both the king and 
the queen good. B knows, however, that his 
partner did not lead that jack of hearts in order 
to take the trick or to establish the suit ; he led 
it with the express purpose of throwing his 
partner in! It is therefore B's business to come 
in and to lead A his suit. Not clubs, although 
that was the suit that A named first ; if B leads 
clubs, he leads up to declared strength. But 
by leading a spade he goes through a declared 
stopper and into his partner's hand. 

When B leads the jack of spades, Z does cover 
with his king because, by so doing, he makes 
his ten good. Nevertheless, he is set for 150 
points — more than half the rubber value; and 
that at a very critical point of the game. Z 
saved 100 points by losing 150, for either two 
clubs or three royals would have put his adver- 
saries rubber. Still, it is an awkward point at 
which to sustain such a loss. 

I know that to many of my readers these 
various points will be perfectly obvious; but I 
know, too (from the games I watch and the 
ones I play), that many others stand in decided 
need of just such instruction. The bidding on 



112 Subtlety vs, Obvio\jsness 

that hand, the choice of lead from A, Z's decision 
not to put up the queen of hearts, and B's taking 
his partner's jack with the ace and giving him his 
second suit (not his first) through the shown 
stopper, are all excellent examples of subtlety 
of play and reasoning. 

Here is another hand in which B threw away 
a perfectly good trick in the most unnecessary 
manner — simply because he did not give his 
partner credit for an ordinary amount of acumen 
and subtlety. 

4I1 K Q J 9 7 4 

4 A53 

^642 
4I165 
OAK65 
♦J1064 

9A3 

4li 10 8 3 
Q 10 7 4 2 
4bE:Q8 



^KQJIOST 
J^A2 
098 
4972 


Y 

A B 

Z 



Z could have opened his hand with an ex- 
ceedingly weak ''no-trump, " or with ^'a spade, " 



Subtlety vs, Obvicusness 113 

or (at a pinch) with ''a diamond." If he were 
using the ''two-spade" call, his hand is a perfect 
example of such a bid. In that case, A would 
pass (reserving his heart-bid for a second round, 
provided Y bid). In any other event (save the 
spade-bid), A would bid his hearts immediately. 
The ultimate result would be the same, so we will 
imagine Z to say ''a diamond"; A, '^a heart"; 
and Y, ''two clubs." B passes; he has not a 
raiser in his hand ; his only two taking cards are 
in the same suit and he has no singleton or 
missing suit. Had his partner bid "a no-trump, " 
B's guarded jack of spades would have been a 
raiser, while his two diamonds would be two 
good tricks. But guarded jacks and guarded 
queens do not count as raisers in suit -bids — 
they are too apt to get ruffed. 

Z passes and A bids *'two hearts, " upon which 
both Y and B pass. Y does not like to bid 
"three clubs" and make the adversaries' book 
four tricks, when he holds six losing cards and 
lacks the ace of his own suit — (his two hearts, 
two diamonds, and two small spades are all 
losing cards, and one of his small trumps must 
go on the ace if it be held against him; he has, 
therefore, seven losing cards in his hand, and 
cannot bid for nine tricks). 

The bid comes round to Z, who should most 

8 



114 Svibtlety vs. Obviousness 

certainly bid ''three clubs/' He has the ace 
of the enemy's suit and holds but four losing 
cards — a perfectly sound three-bid. 

His losing cards are the small heart, the small 
spade, and two of his diamonds; his queen of 
that suit will be high after two rounds. 

Instead of a sound three-club bid, the original 
Z chose to bid "two no-trumps.'' He said he 
did it because it was less of a contract and was 
worth more if they made it. He thought his 
partner held the high clubs; he himself could 
stop the adversary's hearts on the first round, 
the diamonds after two rounds, and he held two 
good spade tricks. 

This is average reasoning, combined with the 
average desire for no-trumps. Z has not a no- 
trump hand ; all his suits but diamonds are short 
and his hearts are lamentably so. 

A refuses to bid ''three hearts" with six losing 
cards, lacking the ace of his own suit (which he 
knows lies with Z), and with a no-trump hand 
against him. His 64 honors make him willing 
to lose the odd, provided it be not doubled, for, 
with 64 plus and 50 minus, he would still be 14 
to the good. But if he should be doubled and 
should lose those two diamonds and three spades, 
as well as the trump ace, he would be badly set. 

Z gets the bid at "two no-trumps," and A 



Subtlety vs. Obviousness 115 

leads his king of hearts. Z takes the second 
round of hearts and leads his ten of clubs, to 
establish his long suit. A comes in immediately 
with the ace, and makes all his good hearts, on 
which the others are forced to discard. And 
what do you suppose the original B chose for his 
first discard? The king of diamonds, so that A 
might be sure to lead a diamond to his ace, 
after hearts were gone. He had heard that to 
discard so high a diamond was to ''scream for 
diamonds!" And so it is. But what, I ask 
you, could A lead, other than a diamond? Not 
a club, with Dummy's established suit lying there 
on the board; and not a spade to Dummy's 
ace — thus allowing him to get in and make his 
clubs. He had absolutely no choice but dia- 
monds, and B threw away 50 good points by his 
discard of that king. It was a most unnecessary 
sacrifice of a perfectly good trick! Be subtle, 
but not as ''subtle '' as that ; for you must always 
remember that your partner, too, may have some 
gifts in that line. 



CHAPTER XI 



RISKY BIDS 



A RISKY bid is permissible in but two situa- 
tions — one where you are trying to go rubber, 
and the other where you are trying to save it. 
A risky bid is allowable in the first case, and 
imperative in the second. 

But, unfortunately, such occasions are not the 
only ones which call forth unsound bids. To sit 
still, is the one lesson that it seems impossible 
to teach the average player. 

When you sit down to an Auction table, say to 
yourself, '*I will not permit myself to overbid. '' 
Say it over and over, and let nothing tempt you 
to break your resolution. But if you do break 
it, break it at once, and be done with it. The 
longer you wait the worse it will be. And I will 
show you why. 

Overbidding is the curse of the game, but it is 
impossible to cure most players of it. You may 
reason with them, plead with them, argue with 
them, and apparently convince them, and the 

1X6 



RisKy^ Bids 117 

very next hand will find them at their old 
tricks. If overbidding could be wiped off the 
face of the earth to-day, the Auction of to- 
morrow would be a different game. It would 
approach perfection. 

I think I never play with strangers without 
having them say, ^'Why, how little you bid!" 
or ''How little you double!'' Why bid, or why 
double, unless you have a reason for it or are 
forced to it? All professionals, all experts, will 
tell you this and will live up to their convictions, 
and the results will prove the wisdom of those 
convictions. Yet the mass of players will go 
merrily on, bidding and doubling on hope or 
on foolishness. "Let us take a gamble,*' they 
will say (when the score does not demand it), 
and their gamble will cost them 400. Or they 
will tell you that they "like the fun of playing 
the hand, " and thej^ will play it at a heavy loss. 
They may be able to afford it, and their partners 
may not object — being players of the same sort, 
— but that is not good Auction. It is the most 
discouraging thing in the world to be unable to 
weed out this error. Now, if you have the habit 
and can not, or will not, give it up, let me at 
least persuade you to commit your blunders 
early in the game. It is a positive tragedy to 
be heavily penalized when the rubber is nearing 



Ii8 Risky Bids 

its end and you have no time to recoup 
yourself. 

Suppose you lose 500 in the beginning of a 
rubber. It is a terrible handicap; but it is not 
nearly so serious as it would be later, for the 
simple reason that you have time to recover it. 
And that should be your one object — to get back 
that 500 — or, at the very least, to get back 250 
of it. Then you can afford to take the rubber, 
for the rubber value plus the 250 penalties will 
equalize your own losses. But with that 500 
still against you the rubber itself would be a loss. 

But suppose the rubber game stands at 20-24 
and you lose 500, then where are you? If you 
take rubber, you are in a hole; if the other side 
takes rubber, you are in a worse one ; and if you 
make wild bids to keep the adversaries from 
going rubber, your plight is still worse. And 
some one must soon go rubber with the score at 
such a point. 

Such nightmares are unnecessary and are 
always of your own creating. If you never 
overbid, they cannot happen to you. 

In a game the other evening my partner and I 
scored a cool 400 in penalties, and felt rather 
happy. The very next hand he made a risky 
bid and lost it all ; and on the following hand the 
adversaries took rubber. If they had taken it 



Risky Bids 119 

while we were 400 in, we should still have been 
the winners. 

And the moral of all this is : Sit tight in your 
bidding and profit by the other man's mistakes. 

The futility of winning ''losing" rubbers is 
another point which, apparently, passes the 
comprehension of the average player. To win 
a rubber at a cost of 350, is exactly the same as 
to lose it at a cost of 350 — except that one is 
voluntary and the other is unavoidable. Those 
who play for money have no trouble in grasping 
this point ; and the heavier their habitual stake, 
the quicker they are to see it. That, I think, 
speaks for itself. 

But the general run of players feel that they 
have won something, when they take a rubber 
with 600 penalties piled up against them. Sup- 
pose any one owed you six dollars, would you 
jump at the chance to take two dollars and 
a half in full payment, and call it square? 
Would you feel that you had lost nothing — 
that, on the other hand, you were ''ahead of 
the game"? You certainly would not, and 
I am sure of it. 

As long as the rubber stays open you may 
have a chance to win back what you have lost. 
But the moment that you voluntarily close it, 
you cut your throat with your own hand; you 



I20 Rishy Bids 

definitely end your chances to catch up, and you 
make yourself a loser. 

If you suffer a heavy-penalty loss early in the 
rubber, you are not in such a terrible plight 
(even with 600 penalties against you) , unless you 
purposely take rubber, or the other side forces 
it on you. You have time to penalize the ad- 
versaries ; if you can manage to squeeze out even 
200 in penalties, and then go rubber, you will be 
all right. Two hundred is n't so hard to make; 
the other side may get a bad hand and be forced 
to bid ''a spade " ; you, holding all the cards, can 
leave them in and get 100. Do that twice, and 
you can afford to go rubber. Two hundred 
plus the rubber value (250) plus the trick and 
honor-values of the hands on which you go 
rubber, should equalize that 600 loss. 

On the other hand, if I were on the side that 
had won the 600 penalties, I should try to force 
the adversaries to take a losing rubber, and I 
should never make a risky bid. If the rubber 
stays open, you may lose some of your '* velvet'* 
on poor spade hands. 

I have had players say to me : '* There is no use 
worrying over penalties that are past and over. '' 
Past and over! If you had lost six hundred 
dollars an hour ago, would you cease thinking 
of it because it was ''past and over, '' or would 



RisKy Bids 121 

you still try to recover it on the principle that 
while there 's life there 's hope? 

Of course, if you and your partner are to play 
together all evening, you can afford to take the 
losing rubber, pocket the 250, and trust to the 
next rubber to make up your losses. But if 
you ''cut in'' at the end of each rubber, one of 
you has to lose again, while the other wins. One 
will double his losses while the other will recoup 
his. And as it is impossible for any one to know 
which is to he the next winner, and which the next 
loser, it is to the interest of both players not to end 
the present rubber at a considerable loss, 

Dalton says: ''You can win the rubber but 
once; but as long as it stays open, the chances for 
penalizing the adversaries are infinite!*' 

It is a choice between a sure loss and a possible 
gain. I should choose the gain, even at the risk 
of a further loss! 



CHAPTER XII 

PENALTIES 

From time to time the question of penalties 
or non-penalties raises itself and stares us in the 
face. Players are very much divided on this 
head; even excellent players are not always 
entirely sportsmanlike on the subject. 

Whatever game a person goes in for, his first 
aim should be to take it up in the true sporting 
spirit. The object of a game is to reward skill 
and punish or penalize want of skill and care- 
lessness; add to this the element of chance in a 
greater or less degree, the rules and implements 
of the particular game in question, and your 
game stands made. 

No one questions most of these facts; no one 
tries to play a game without the proper imple- 
ments, and without a certain knowledge of its 
rules. No one plays a game without failing to 
take advantage of any skill he may possess. 
Why, then, should any one wish to evade the 
only remaining condition? Why should he 

122 



Penalties 123 

object to taking his punishment for ignorance or 
carelessness? 

What would you think of a golf player who 
wanted to be allowed to lift his ball out of every 
difficult *'lie/' or a tennis player who wanted 
to "take it over again'' every time he missed a 
ball, or any player of any game who turned 
sulky over consequences that he had brought on 
his own head? 

Auction should be approached in precisely the 
same sporting spirit which one shows at other 
games. Penalize yourself promptly and cheer- 
fully — don't wait to be dragged to it by the 
adversary ; if you expose a card from your hand, 
or drop one on the table, lay that card im- 
mediately — face up — on the table, subject to call. 
Never dream of grabbing it up and returning it 
to your hand, and of wrangling over the adver- 
sary's right to call it . And when you have placed 
it on the table and the adversary has called it 
to his own advantage, play it cheerfully and 
graciously. Don't be ill-tempered over it, and 
please don't say, ''I was just going to play that, 
anyhow — so it doesn't hurt me any!" Oh, if 
you knew the difference that all these things make 
in a game, you would never have to be twice 
urged to be sportsmanlike ! 

You were clumsy when you dropped that card ; 



124 Penalties 

take the penalty for your clumsiness as naturally 
as you would if you were running a race or 
skating on ice; there, if you are clumsy, you fall. 
Here, too, you fall — by having your card made 
subject to your adversary's pleasure. 

When I play for the first time with new ac- 
quaintances it does n't take me three minutes 
to rate their game. There are good players, 
indifferent players, and poor players — but there 
are infinitely more classes than that. There are 
good players whom I never want to see again; 
they are grumpy, over-eager to exact penalties 
from others, and exceedingly loth to pay up 
their own. And there are indifferent, and even 
poor players with whom I am willing and glad to 
have other games. They are eager to improve, 
intelligent and quick at taking hints, gracious 
in giving penalties, and very slow in exacting 
them. 

And there is another odd point: The player 
who is quickest about penalizing himself is 
usually slowest about exacting penalties from 
unwilling adversarieSo And the player who 
watches, lynx-eyed, for chances to penalize his 
adversary is nearly always excessively ill- 
tempered when the tables are turned on him. 

I am going to run over the principal penalties 
of the game, in order that you may be, not only 



Penalties 125 

willing to ''pay up'' when your time comes, but 
intelligently posted as to whether it has come. 

The first and greatest is, of course, the penalty 
for the revoke. No one, I think, questions this 
or seeks to evade it. One hundred and fifty 
honor-points for the adversaries if the player 
revokes; and the choice between 150 honor- 
points or the value of three tricks below the line 
for the player if either adversary revokes. 
The revoking side can score nothing on the hand, 
except any honors they may chance to hold. 
A slam can not be scored on a revoke penalty. 

The next great question concerns the lead from 
the wrong hand — and here players are divided. 
The old penalty of taking a trick for this lead 
was found excessive and was abandoned. Never- 
theless, the best players agree that some sort of 
penalty is desirable; it prevents carelessness as 
well as willful cheating. Twenty honor-points 
is the new penalty, and it is being adopted very 
generally. Any player, including Dummy, may 
call attention to a lead from the wrong hand. 
Two penalties cannot be exacted for the same 
fault; therefore, if the twenty honor-points be 
taken, the card which is led in error is not an 
exposed card. It is returned to the hand where 
it belongs. 

Any card exposed on, or above, the table 



126 Penalties 

(so that its face can be seen and named) is an 
"exposed*' card. It should be placed face up 
on the table, subject to the call of the adversary. 
But no one can be forced to revoke with an ex- 
posed card ; its owner can be made to play it only 
when its suit is led, or when another suit is led 
to which he is unable to follow. Suppose your 
partner drops an ace of hearts; it is laid on the 
table and can be '^called'' if a heart be led. 
Now, be very careful, if it is your lead, never 
to lead a high heart, such as the king; the 
adversary would immediately '^cair' your part- 
ner's ace on your king; you should lead a low 
heart, or lead another suit, where you are sure 
he can follow. 

A card dropped below the level of the table 
(on the player's lap, or on the floor) is not an 
*' exposed" card, even though it lie face up and 
every one can see it. 

The owner of an ** exposed'' card may play it 
at his own convenience, without waiting to have 
it called. 

There is another penalty that is expressly 
provided for by the rules that I have seen 
horribly neglected, yet it is one of the best of the 
lot. If the wrong adversary lead, the player 
may call any suit he pleases from the proper 
leader. If more players would learn this rule, 



Penalties 127 

and practice it, the game would be greatly 
improved. No good players would be caught 
many times in this trap, and the result would be 
very gratifying. Nothing is so amateurish as 
a game in which, at the close of the bidding of 
every hand, some one asks, or some one tells, 
whose lead it is. If any one at a table knows 
whose lead it iSy every one should know! No one 
shotdd ask where the lead is, and no one should 
tell. ^'It is your lead," should be a proscribed 
phrase in Auction. At the close of the bidding, 
all the players should sit silent until some one 
leads; if it is the proper leader, well and good. 
If not, the player should call any suit he wants, 
from the real leader. It will not take many 
such experiences to cure players of this tiresome 
fault. 

If any player bid or double out of turn, either 
adversary may call for a new deal. 

If a player make a bid, insufficient to cover 
the previous bid, he is forced to bid enough to 
cover it, by bidding in the suit he has named. 
And if the following adversary pass, the partner 
of the faulty bidder is debarred from bidding. 
If, however, the adversary bid or double, the 
partner of the faulty bidder is free to do as he 
likes. 

If, near the close of a hand, one player shall be 



128 Penalties 

found to be short one or more cards, it shall be 
counted a revoke for the short hand. 

There are two more faults that are expressly 
forbidden by the rules, though there is no penalty 
for committing them. One is looking at back 
tricks that have been quitted, and the other is 
asking back bids that have been covered. Both 
these mistakes are constantly made, and the 
latter is allowed by the ruling of certain card 
clubs. It is, nevertheless, an error, and a 
localism (in that it is not universally permitted), 
and, moreover, it greatly hampers the smooth- 
ness of the game. It is just as easy to play with- 
out committing either of these blunders, and I 
beg you all to expurge them from your game, even 
though the rules provide no penalty for them. 

I append a condensed list of penalties, which 
may be easily consulted if a question arise. 

Auction Penalties 

One hundred and fifty honor-points 
for the adversaries if the player re- 
voke; and the choice between 150 honor-points, 
or the value of three tricks below the line, for 
the player, if either adversary revoke. The 
revoking side can score nothing on the hand, 
except for any honors they may chance to hold. 
A slam can not be scored on a revoke. Should 



Penalties 129 

there be more than one revoke in a hand, each 
one after the first is worth 100 honor-points to 
the adversaries. A revoke shoiild not be 
claimed till the close of the hand. 

Twenty honor-points. Any player, 
Lead from including Dummy, may call atten- 
Handf ^^^^ ^^ ^ ^^^^ from the wrong hand. 

Two penalties cannot be exacted for 
the same fault; therefore, if the 20 honor-points 
be taken, the card led in error is not an ex- 
posed card. It is returned to the hand where it 
belongs. 

Any card exposed on, or above, the 
Card. level of the table, so that its face can 

be named, is an exposed card. It 
should be placed face up, on the table, subject 
to the call of the adversary. No one can be 
forced to revoke with an exposed card. The 
owner of an exposed card may play it, without 
waiting to have it called. 

Not an No ^^^^ dropped below the level of 
Exposed the table is an exposed card, even 

though its face can be seen. 

If the wrong adversary lead, the 
Lead from player may call a suit from the proper 
Adversary, l^^'der. If the player holds no card 

of the suit that is called, the penalty 
is not paid. The card led in error is returned 



130 Penalties 

to its owner's hand. No one may ask, or tell, 
whose lead it is. 

If a player bid, or double, out of 

turn, either adversary may call for a 
new deal. If a player make a bid insufificient 
to cover the previous bid (and the error be dis- 
covered before the adversary has bid, doubled, 
or passed), the faulty player is forced to make a 
sufficient bid in the suit he has named. And if 
the following adversary should pass, the partner 
of the faulty bidder is debarred from bidding. 
If, however, the adversary should bid or double, 
the partner of the faulty bidder is free to do as 
he pleases. If a faulty bid be not discovered 
until after the adversary has bid, passed, or 
doubled, it stands as good. 

If, near the close of a hand, a player 
Revoke. shall be found to be short one or 

more cards, it shall be counted 

a revoke for the short hand. 

If the dealer face any card to any 
Faced Card. ^ , . j i 

player, he must deal anew. 

There are two more faults that are expressly 
forbidden by the rules, through there is no 
penalty for committing them. One is facing 
tricks that have been quitted, and the other is 
asking back bids that have been covered. 

A trick is *' quitted'' when it is turned and the 



Penalties 131 

fingers are off it. A bid is ''covered'' when the 
following adversary has passed, bid, or doubled. 
A revoke may be corrected before the trick is 
quitted, or the next lead is on the table. 



CHAPTER XIII 

SOME FAULTS OF THE AVERAGE GAME 

The three most conspicuous faults of 
the average game are unquestionably over- 
bidding, bidding against a one-spade de- 
claration, and doubling one suit when you 
can double no other. All these I have already 
fully discussed, but there remain some minor 
faults which are constantly seen and which 
are a decided bar to a good game. Chief 
amongst these is establishing a ruff for the 
weak hand. 

There is nothing that so helps a player 
as being able to make his trumps separately 
in the two hands. If he can use Dummy's 
weak trumps for ruffing and then, when they 
are gone, pull two trumps for one by lead- 
ing them from his own strong hand, he is 
immensely advantaged. Those little trumps 
in Dummy would be wasted if they fell on his 

132 



Some Minor Faxilts 133 

own big ones; they could not take tricks by 
themselves. 

The moment that you (as adversary) see 
that the player is trying to establish a 
rufif for the weak hand, or a cross-ruff for 
both hands, you should come in at any 
cost and lead trumps. Of course, the ideal 
way would be for that adversary to lead, 
who could lead trumps through the strong 
hand and up to the weak one. But if that 
cannot be managed, the other adversary 
should seize the first chance to come in 
and to lead trumps, even up to strength. 
He should do this even at the cost of sac- 
rificing a cherished trump-honor. There is 
nothing so deadly to the adversaries as 
having the player cross-ruff, or ruff in the 
weak hand. 

If the player can be forced to follow in Dummy 
and to ruff in his strong hand, he is greatly 
weakened by the process. But never permit 
him to ruff in the weak hand. 

Now, I notice dozens of players who not 
only permit the weak hand to ruff, but are kind 
enough to establish that ruff themselves. By 
so doing, they generally make the player a gift 
of two- or three-odd tricks. Let me illustrate 
with a hand: 



134 



Some Minor Favilts 



^97 
4»J7432 
<C> 10 8 7 6 
4Q9 



9 854 




Y 




9a32 


4I1QIO8 


A 




B 


4k£65 


OJ432 




0K95 


4^ AK6 




Z 




4kJ1072 



^ K Q J 10 6 
4liA9 

Oaq 

4^8543 

Here is a most commonplace-looking hand for 
the adversaries; I am sure you have all held its 
counterpart many times and have despaired of 
scoring on it. Z is playing the hand at hearts; 
as far as he is concerned, it is a beauty ; he has 
five trumps to 64 honors, and two doubleton 
suits, headed by Aces. 

Now, it rests entirely with the defense how 
much Z shall score on that hand. Against the 
ordinary defense he will take three-odd. 
Against intelligent defense he can take but the 
odd — and that only by the most subtle of play. 
Consequently, if Z happens to be 8 on the game, 
ordinary adversaries would permit him to take 



Some Minor Faxilts 135 

the game under their noses, while clever adver- 
saries wotdd hold him down to the odd, and if 
he had been begiiiled into a bid of two, or had 
been one of those unfortunate players who open 
with a two-bid because they ''want to play the 
hand,'' Z would be set in his bid. 

A will, of course, lead his king of spades. 
Dummy goes down with but two spades; if A 
is sufficiently obliging to lead spades again, 
Dummy's ruff is established, and Z will not have 
the least trouble in taking three-odd. 

If, on the contrary, A determines to kill 
Dummy's ruff, and makes his second lead a 
heart, B will come in with the ace and lead 
trumps again, to exhaust Dummy. In this way 
Z can make but the odd, and he cannot make that 
unless he is clever enough to play his ten of 
trumps on the first trump round and retain 
his six-spot. This will make Dummy's nine a 
re-entry card on the second round, and Z can 
lead diamonds up to his ace-queen, instead of 
being constantly thrown back into his own hand 
and forced to lead away from the ten-ace. 

This hand is a splendid example of what 
can be done with mediocre cards. When I hear 
players constantly grumbling that they ''hold 
no hands" and that "the other side has all the 
cards," and then see them miss dozens of tricks 



136 Some Minor Faxjlts 

by poor plays, I am both amused and disgusted. 
It is tiresome to hold poor cards the greater 
part of the time; I should know, for I have tried 
it. But nothing is better for one*s game than 
to make the best of poor hands, and nothing is 
better for one's character than to cease com- 
plaining about them. Such complaints are also 
intensely poor form. 

When Z bids ''a heart '' on this hand, if every 
one goes by, he gets the play and makes his odd 
with 64 honors — a total of 72 points. If A leads 
a second round of spades before exhausting 
trumps, Z makes three-odd plus 64 honors — a 
total of 88 points. If B covers Z's bid by bid- 
ding **one no-trump" (which he can just make), 
on the principle that ''it is always a pity to let 
the other side get the bid at one-odd," Z will be 
almost sure to go to "two hearts"; he can then 
be set for 50 points, and his honors will make him 
just 14 points plus on the hand, nothing below 
the line and 14 above, instead of 24 below and 
64 above! And the cards are the same in both 
cases ! 

Leading up to a king and one, is another 
common fault. A king and one small card is a 
sorry object when led through; led up to, it is 
always good for one round. 

The failure to lead trumps up to the weak 



Some Minor Faxilts 137 

hand, and against the player, is a noticeably 
common error. When you are leading up to 
a Dummy whose weakest suit is trumps, lead 
trumps I 

And finally, unless you want to 'become known 
as a very tiresome player, don't feel it necessary 
to explain at the end of every hand just why 
you did so and so — why you bid, or doubled — 
or failed to bid, or double, — and the reasons for 
every move you have made. Auction that is 
too conversational is not a joy. It should be 
played as quietly as Bridge used to be played. 
If, when every hand closes, every one of four 
players tries to explain his reasons for all his 
moves and to convince the other three how right 
he was. Auction becomes a weariness and a bore. 
You generally know why a man did a thing as 
well as he knov/s himself. Sometimes you may 
agree with his theories and his choice of bid, 
sometimes not. In the latter case, pray don't 
force your opinions on him unless asked to do 
so. He may be right and you may be wrong 
when it comes to a matter of judgment, and if 
it is a matter of his want of knowledge, then 
he bids as he does because of that want, and a 
game is not a lecture. As for your own reasons 
for your decisions, pay others the compliment of 
taking it for granted that they know enough to 



138 Some Minor Faults 

reason out the situation for themselves. The 
peace and harmony of the game are worth 
more than the most briUiant exposition of 
theories. 



CHAPTER XIV 
don'ts 

Don't overbid. 

Don't double bids of one. 

Don't double anything unless you can double 
everything. 

Don't talk while the bidding is in progress. 

Don't be too explanatory at the close of a hand. 

Don't open with bids of two. 

Don't bid no-trump unless you stop the 
adversary's suit. 

Don't establish ruffs for the weak hand. 

Don't lead thirteeners, except at no-trump. 
You will give the player a chance to trump in 
his weak hand and to discard a losing card from 
his strong one. 

Don't forget that there are eighteen *' points" 
in every suit. 

Don't make any bid that is in excess of what 
is absolutely necessary. 

Don't be over-eager to penalize unwilling 
adversaries. 

139 



140 Don*ts 

Don't be slow to penalize yourself. 

Don't claim a revoke till the end of the hand. 

Don't bid ''a spade'* when your hand war- 
rants anything better. 

Don't bid anything better when your hand 
demands ^'a spade." 

Don't bid against the adversary's '* one spade," 
unless you can go game in the hand. 

Don't try to ''rescue" your partner when he 
has been doubled. 

Don't bid on jack-suits on the first round. 

Don't forget that no suit is worth 50 a trick, 
and that penalizing the adversary is always 
worth 50 a trick. 

Don't exaggerate the importance of the cross- 
line that separates trick-points from honor- 
points. A hundred points are 100 points. 

Don't forget that if the rubber (two games) 
is worth 250 honors, one game is worth half as 
much, or 125 honors. But partial games are 
worth little or nothing. Take them if you can 
get nothing better, but remember that the spade- 
penalty is always better. 

If you have played badly don't lay it to the 
light, the heat, the conversation, etc. Every 
one has been at the same disadvantage, and 
every one has ''off" days. 

Don't ask back bids, or face quitted tricks. 



Don'ts 141 

Don't take losing rubbers, if you can avoid 
them. 

Don't fail to force losing rubbers on the ad- 
versary, whenever occasion offers. 

Don't change your partner's double to a bid 
except from weakness, from fear of having 
misled him by some bid of your own, or on the 
certainty of taking a winning rubber. 

Don't forget that ''game in the hand" is 
very valuable. Try to get it for yourself and 
to keep it from the adversary. 

Don't do any ''flag-flying" to save game; 
do a reasonable amount of it to save rubber. 

Don't break any of these rules, unless the 
issue is more important than the rule. 



CHAPTER XV 

REMEMBER THAT: 

When you want to bid high, you count what 
you haven't] when you want to double, you 
count what you have. 

To double a high bid, it is not necessary to 
hold many trumps. It is necessary only that 
you and your partner, together, shall hold one 
more trick than your book. 

To raise yoiu* partner's bid, you must hold 
'*a trick and a raiser.'* In any declared trump, 
raisers are: guarded trump-honors, side-aces, 
side-kings, singletons, and missing suits. A 
missing suit or a singleton ace in a side-suit 
may be counted two raisers. 

Singletons and missing-suits are dread things 
in no-trump, but tremendous assets in a declared 
trump. 

If you hold but four trumps in the strong 
hand, singletons and missing-suits lose their 
value. You are too short to take ruflfs. 

If the adversaries show any signs of trying 

142 



Remember THat: 143 

to establish a ruff, or a cross-ruff, get in at any 
cost and lead trumps, even up to strength. 

The lower the suit on which you bid, the more 
expensive your declaration. 

If the bid suits you, it is wise to say nothing. 

If your partner makes a *' backward" bid 
(with no bid from the intervening adversary), 
it is more apt to mean weakness in your suit 
than strength in his own. 

Courtesy and calmness are necessary adjuncts 
of a really great game. Unasked criticism is 
intensely poor form. 



Test Hand No. i 

(Flag-flying.) 
^AKQJ10 9865 

063 



973 




Y 




^3 


4fcQ652 


A 




B 


4kA87 


<C>K42 




<>A-J 


49754 




Z 




4kKQJ10 862 



94 

<|i e: J 10 1 3 

Q 10 9 8 7 5 

Score: 18-12 on rubber-game, in favor of 
A-B. 

As this hand was originally played, Z opened 
with ''a club," A passed, Y bid "a heart,'* 
and B bid ''a royal/' 

Z now said ''two diamonds." It was an odd 
bid, but Y read it aright as a long weak suit, 

144 



Test Hand No. 1 145 

headed by cards that were too low to make 
a first-round bid advisable. He immediately 
cotinted his two diamonds as losing cards; but 
he hoped that Z's first bid of " a club '' meant the 
ace, but that his suit was too short to admit of 
a two-bid. 

A passed and Y bid 'Hwo hearts/' 

B answered with ''two royals/* Y said 
''three hearts," and B said "three royals"; Y 
said "four hearts," and B "four royals." 

Then Y was confronted with the decision be- 
tween ' ' four no-trumps ' ' and ' ' five hearts. ' ' See- 
ing the hand open, we know that the no-trump 
bid would be the better. But on a closed hand 
Y reasoned thus (and rightly) : 

In hearts he had 80 honors — nearly a third 
of the rubber-value. In no-trumps he had no 
honors. Why throw away 80 because you are 
running for 250? 

Again, if the ace of clubs were in his partner's 
hand, he could make five hearts, and rubber, 
and 80 honors. If it were not, there was no pos- 
sible combination of cards by which he could lose 
more than 20 points {even if doubled); or fail to 
come out plus on the hand if he were not doubled. 

In hearts, he had ten sure tricks and 80 sure 
honors. In no-trumps, if the ace-king of dia- 
monds and the ace-queen of clubs happened to 
10 



146 



Test Hand No, 1 



lie in A's hand, Y would surely lose 100, if 
doubled, and have no honors to offset it. 

Suppose Y said ''four no-trumps,'' and the 
cards lay thus (leaving his hand and his 
partner's intact) : 

^AKQJ10 9865 

♦ 9 

063 



973 




Y 




^2 


4ilAQ65 


A 




B 


4ii872 


OAK42 




Oj 


4^754 




Z 




4kKQ J109862 



94 

«|k K J 10 4 3 
O Q 10 9 8 7 5 



B may have been bidding his royals on 72 
honors and two side-singletons. Now he passes, 
Z passes, and A doubles. 

B, realizing that Y must hold the ace of 
spades (in order to bid no-trump), will not lead 
a spade and put him in with his long hearts. 
For the same reason, he will not lead a heart. 
Whatever else he leads, Y cannot fail to lose 100, 



Test Hand No. 1 147 

whereas in a heart-bid his heaviest possible loss 
is 20. There are numerous other possible posi- 
tions by which the no-trump bid would cost 
him 100; and Y does not see the hand. 

As soon as he was doubled, he realized that 
the ace of clubs was against him. But then 
it was too late to say no-trumps ; it would have 
taken five-odd to cover the heart-bid ; he would 
have lost one trick and all his honors. 

If Y had said ''four no-trumps/' B could have 
done a little flag-flying of his own. He would 
have bid ''five royals'* to save rubber. He 
would have lost one trick; doubled, this would 
have cost him 100 minus his 72 honors, or 28 
points. 

The total difference on the outcome of the 
hand would thus be 48 points; Z-Y lose 20 or 
make 28, thanks to clever flag-flying by both 
sides. 



148 



Test Hand No. 2 

Test Hand No. 2 



(More flag-flying.) 



, 


^Q7432 




1 


*10 






0832 




( 


(lkAQ94 




9 


Y 


^AJ6 


4kKQJ87432 


A B 


*A 


Q 10 9 5 4 


AJ76 


♦ 


Z 


4^X8653 


( 


V^' K 10 9 8 5 




i 


4ll965 






Ok 




( 


(|k J 10 7 2 





Score: i8 all on rubber-game. 

Z, ^' a heart/' 

A, '^ two clubs/' 

Y, ''two hearts," and it is about B's bid that 
I want to speak. 

Most players would bid no-trump; and, of 
course, in the present instance, it would be a 
most successful bid. Nevertheless, I do not 
like it. Let me tell you why. 



Test Hand No. 2 149 

Unless A holds some re-entry beside his clubs, 
B can never use those clubs, can never get into 
the hand, and cannot make his bid. Now what 
re-entry can B expect from his partner? Not 
hearts, certainly, and it is a long chance to look 
for a spade or diamond re-entry with those good 
cards in B's own hand. 

As it happens, A has re-entry in his diamond 
queen ; but just suppose Z held his own diamond 
king plus A's queen and ten. Suppose the 
diamonds were well guarded against him in 
either hand, or that A had n't the queen at all 
—where would the two no-trumps be? 

A singleton is a heavy weight in no-trump, 
and when it is a singleton ace of your partner's 
suit it is very apt to block. On the other hand, 
a singleton ace is a wonderful asset in a suit- 
make. I should rather hear B say three clubs — 
or pass (in the hope of defeating two hearts). 

If B and Z pass, A must positively bid ''three 
clubs'* ; nov7 if Y says ''three hearts, " why should 
not B think he could double? He cannot make 
it, as we know from seeing the open hand. But 
he would be apt to think he could. One trump 
round, one club round, one diamond round, and 
one spade round will make his book; now, if his 
partner gets a trick or if B gets a club-ruff, it will 
make the odd, and 100 points. 



y 



150 Test Hand No. 2 

If A-B bid ''four clubs/' Z-Y should bid 
hearts, to a certain loss, to save rubber; if they 
bid ''four hearts'* and are doubled, they lose 
100 points minus their 16 honors — 84 points. 
If they allow A-B to play clubs, the score on the 
hand will be seven club tricks (42), four honors 
(24), grand slam (40), and rubber (250) — a 
total of 336 points' loss for Z-Y, as against 84 
points. 

If Z-Y bid "four hearts" and A-B prefer 
rubber to doubling, they must bid a small slam 
in clubs to cover four hearts. The question is, 
would either one dare it, not knowing his part- 
ner's hand? 

Because the no-trump bid would prove suc- 
cessful, in this instance, do not think that it is 
proper. It presupposes absolutely that A shall 
have diamond or spade re-entry; and B (with 
his cards) has no right to expect either. Nine 
times out of ten, he would not get it. 



Test Hand No. 3 



151 



Test Hand No. 3 

(Changing no-trump to suit.) 

^ J 10 5 2 

4I1IO75 

4b J 10 9 5 2 



9aQ8 

4liA98 

OkQ72 

4bKQ3 




^643 
4iJ643 
<> J654 

4^87 



^ K 9 7 

♦ kQ2 
A983 
4 A64 

Z bids *'a no-trump." 

What bid could suit A better than that? He 
has no side-suit with which to force, so he is 
obliged to choose between letting Z play it at '' one 
no-trump *' or bidding ''two no-trumps '' himself. 

A's hand does not warrant ''two no-trimips." 
I do not say this because the bid would not go 
through in this particular instance, I say it on 
general principles. You remember how I have 
always warned you against overbidding, and 
you know that "length is strength*' in no- 



152 Test Hand No. 3 

trump. A*s hand has not a single long suit in 
it, and not one that is established. He would 
have to lose one or two rounds in every suit, 
thus giving the adversaries a chance to establish 
any long suits they might happen to hold. As 
a defeating hand he can count seven reason- 
ably sure tricks; as a declaring hand it is not 
worth two-odd. 

Y must positively change his partner's no- 
trump to ''two royals.'' He has no ace, king, 
or queen in his hand ; and he has a five-card suit 
that runs to the jack-ten — one point more than 
the lowest combination on which a no-trump 
should be changed to a suit-bid. 

If your partner bids no-trump, the next hand 
passes, and you hold a hand without an ace or 
a king, you must change your partner's no- 
trump to two in a suit, on: 

Any six-card suit, no matter if it runs to noth- 
ing higher than a seven-spot. 

Any five-card suit that runs to the ten or to 
any higher card, but not to a five-card suit 
whose highest card is lower than the ten. 

No four-card suit. A two-bid in a four-card suit, 
with a weak side-hand, is too much of a contract. 

These rules are so specific that it is hard to 
understand the haziness of the average player on 
this subject. 



Test Hand No. 4^ 



153 



Test Hand No. 4 

(Bidding to a small loss in preference to allowing 
adversary to score a big hand.) 

4iAK 
753 
♦ 973 



9a7 




Y 




^Q543 


♦ J4 


A 




B 


Jhs 


A.8 




Q J 10 9 6 4 


4KQJ10642 




Z 




485 



993 

•IbQ 10 987652 
<>K3 

If Z bids "five clubs'' on this hand he cannot 
make it against the best defense. He loses one 
trick, 50 undoubled or 100 doubled; to offset 
this somewhat, he scores 36 for honors. 

A has 72 honors in his hand, and almost the 
certainty of taking game, provided he bids 
''four royals/' It is the proper thing for him 
to do, beyond question. And he would positively 
make it, as the hand would be played. With 



154 Test Hand No. ^ 

all four hands exposed, Y can defeat the bid by 
leading a small trump, and by continuing to lead 
one each time he comes in. In this way Dummy's 
club-rufE is killed and the bid is set for one trick. 
But no one but an insane person would make 
such a lead. Y's proper lead is the ace of clubs; 
he might fear a club-ruff from the adversary, 
because his partner, Z, had been bidding so high 
in clubs. In that case Y's only other choice 
would be the ten of hearts from his three-honor 
suit (''the lead of the ten means the two gentle- 
men''). This would lose him a trick, as A would 
take with Dummy's queen, take the second 
round of hearts with his own ace, and ruff all 
subsequent rounds. In this way Y would never 
make his king of hearts, as he would certainly 
do if he allowed the hearts to come to him from 
his partner. 

The whole hand hinges on the position of the 
king of diamonds. If Y held that king, instead 
of Z, it would be over the ace, and would be safe. 
This would give Z-Y the winning combination 
of cards, either to play the hand at ''five clubs," 
or to defeat the bid of "four royals." 



Test Hand No. 3 



155 



Test Hand No. 5 



(A case where I should advise a ''backward" 

bid.) 


9 J 10 4 

<> K 10 9 8 7 4 




9Q85 
4I1J2 
A2 
4bKQJ962 


Y 

A B 

Z 


^AK973 
♦ a8753 
J63 

♦ 


i 
< 

4 


^62 

IL1094 

C>Q5 

► A 10 7 5 4 3 





Z-Y are one game in, and the second game 
stands iS-io in their favor. 

Z says ''a royal'' and A passes. Y, in my 
opinion, should say ''two diamonds,'' to warn 
Z of his spade weakness. Moreover, "two 
diamonds" would put them rubber and "one 
royal " would not ; and in diamonds Y's singleton 
spade is an advantage. 

B must not let the rubber go so easily. He 



156 



Test Hand No. 6 



and his partner must bid hearts, to a loss, rather 
than let the adversaries go rubber. 

On the first round, when Z says ''a royal'' 
and A passes, many authorities would have Y 
pass too (in spite of weakness), because he has 
two tricks in his hand. I prefer the warning bid. 

Test Hand No. 6 

(The one situation where it is better to bid than 
to double; i, e,, when you can go rubber 
on your bid, and have no reason to suppose 
that a double would be worth more than 
250.) 



9Q9878 

t|kK4 

KQ973 




A J 10 6 5 4 
4 Q 10 9 7 2 


Y 

A B 
Z 


^A64 
«|^Q9d632 

4K54 


< 
< 

i 


^KJo8 

Ik A J 10 5 

08 

|kAJ83 





Test Hand No 6. 157 

The score is: Z-Y 20, A-B 24, on the rubber- 
game. Z bids ''a no-trump'* and A says ''two 
diamonds." 

Y can defeat **two diamonds," but he has no 
reason to suppose that he can take much more 
than 250, by doubHng. Moreover, some one 
might jump to royals. On the other hand, if 
he says ''two no-trumps," he has a hand which 
should put them rubber. 

If A bids his diamonds high (to save rubber, 
and on his two singletons), then Y should double. 
He can get a big score and run no risk himself. 
And when the bid is high, the other side cannot 
get out safely, with a no-trump hand against 
them. 



158 



Test Hand No. 7 



Test Hand No. 7 

(Bidding to the score.) 

^ AK853 

4I193 
AJ3 

♦ kQ7 



^ J 10 9 6 2 




Y 




9 


4^10 4: 


A 




B 


4iK52 


<6q9642 




K10 8 


♦ 9 




Z 




4bAJ10d654 



9Q74 
dliAQ J876 

4^32 

It is the rubber-game, and the score is 18-10 
in favor of Z-Y. But they have lost heavily 
in penalties, so that their grand total (above and 
below) is 550 less than A-B's. Remember all 
that I have been teaching you about losing 
rubbers, and don't forget that the side that is 
far ahead should never be beguiled into a risky 
bid, and that they should try and force a losing 
rubber on the adversaries; and remember that 
those adversaries cut their own throats when 
they let themselves take a losing rubber. 



Test Hand No. 7 I59 

If Z-Y take rubber, they lose money ; if they 
let A-B take rubber, they lose more, and if 
they permit themselves to be further penalized, 
they lose still more. Their one hope is to penalize 
A-B, and it is the place of A-B to frustrate this. 

Z opens with ''a club." It won't put him 
rubber and it won't let the adversaries go rubber. 

A passes. 

Y would go to no-trump under ordinary cir- 
cumstances; but just now the lower declaration 
is safer. He passes. 

B bids ''a royal." 

Z cannot risk B's taking rubber in royals. 
He bids ''two clubs," and A passes. 

Y says ''two no-trumps." "Two clubs" will 
put them rubber, anyhow, and they might as 
well have as big a score as possible. 

B should pass and force Y to take the rubber 
at a heavy loss. But not one player out of a 
hundred would be clever enough to do this. 
Moreover, if B can take three-odd he takes the 
rubber, and with seven trumps to three honors, 
a blank suit, and two well-guarded side-kings, 
it looks very promising for three-odd in royals. 

If B makes this bid, Z should pass (there are 
too many penalties against him already, for him 
to bid "five clubs," with six or seven losing 
cards in his hand) . And then comes Y's chance. 



i6o Test Hand No. 7 

He must double, and get back 200 of his lost 
penalties. 

Z leads short, the seven of diamonds, hoping 
to ruff with his little trumps. Dummy goes 
down with five diamonds to the queen, and Y 
holds ace-jack. He plays the jack for two 
reasons: his partner may be leading from the 
king, in which case the jack is good; and if B 
holds king it will force him to lead up to Y and 
establish his two trump-honors. 

B takes the diamond with the king and is de- 
feated. If he leads diamonds again, Y takes with 
the ace and gives B his ruff. If B leads a club 
(hoping to ruff in Dummy on the third round), 
Z just beats the table and leads a diamond. If 
B makes his proper lead of a trump (the ace, and 
then another), he kills Z's diamond ruff, but es- 
tablishes Y's king and queen ; and Z-Y can always 
force B with the heart-suit, and make him lead 
to them. They must never give Dummy a club- 
ruff nor allow the queen of diamonds to take. If 
Dummy should play it on the first trick, Y must 
play his ace and lead the nine of clubs; Z must 
take the round, but not lead it again, to establish 
Dummy's ruff. He must lead a heart, which 
will throw B back in his own hand. 

B is thus defeated, and Z-Y can go rubber, 
at a profit, on any subsequent hand. 



Test Hand No. 8 



i6i 



Test Hand No. 8 

(The dangers of withholding legitimate 
information.) 

Here is a hand where A-B were far ahead, 
and they lacked but ten points on the rubber- 
game. The cards fell as follows: 



^' A K Q 8 5 

♦ j 

O K 10 4 3 




9' 10 4 

4»Q975 
Q J85 
4^10 6 3 



4k A98753 

It was, of course, important that Z-Y should 
keep the adversary from getting the play of the 
hand, or, failing that, that they should push 
A-B to a contract that they could n't keep. Z 
said ''a club'' and A ''a heart." Now Y should 
certainly have said ''two clubs" to show that he 
II 



i62 Test Hand No. 8 

could help. He held a guarded trump honor, 
a side-ace, and a side-singleton — and very little 
prospect of defeating a ''one-heart'' bid. 

He should have bid to force A up, even if he 
did n't bid to help his partner. As a matter of 
fact, he passed and so did B. Z did n't want 
to yield that bid to A (in a suit that would 
probably put him rubber), and he considered 
that Y had virtually said that he had no help 
in clubs. So, instead of two clubs, Z tried ''a 
royal," because it was one trick instead of two, 
and because it would give Y another chance to 
show assistance. 

A said **two hearts," and again Y went by — ■ 
this time because he hoped to beat the hearts. 
But, considering the state of the score, he should 
have tried to capture the play; he should have 
said "three clubs" to warn Z from ''royals." 

That singleton jack of spades that Y holds is 
an excellent thing in a side-suit, but a terrible 
thing in trumps. Y, however, passed, as did A, 
and Z found himself in a desperate position. 
If he passed, A would go rubber on his bid. Z 
feared a three-bid with no indication of help 
from his partner, so he chose a two-bid — "two 
royals." And every one passed. 

Z could easily have made three clubs, but he 
could not make two royals. In the first in- 



Test Hand No. 9 



163 



stance, his adversary had a trump-singleton, 
while hio partner held a trump-honor and a side- 
singleton ; and m the second instance it was his 
partner who held the trump-singleton and his 
adversary the side-singleton. Y should cer- 
tainly have bid on his hand. In this special 
instance it was much more important that he 
and his partner should score below the line than 
that they should penalize their adversaries. 

Test Hand No. 9 

(A case where the partner of the declarant 
should do all the raising.) 



^Q92 
*5 

09432 
4^ AKJ95 




985 

4tJ10763 
J875 
♦ Q6 


Y 

A B 

Z 


9AKJ10 743 

Jh 

OQ106 
4^1042 




C^6 

4kAKQ984 

Oak 

♦ 873 


2 



i64 Test Hand No. 9 

Z opens with **a club/' A passes, Y (holding 
a singleton in his partner's suit) says '*a royal," 
and B says ''two hearts/' 

Now Z may go on in his own suit, if he likes, 
but I should greatly prefer to have him raise Y, 
in the higher suit, which is worth more and is 
less of a contract. Z has a perfect raising hand 
for royals; a singleton in the adversary's suit, 
three little trumps with which to take ruffs, and 
two ace-king side-suits. Whatever B bids in 
hearts, Z can cover with the same number of 
royals. 

If B should go very high in hearts, Z should 
double on the principle that, as he and his 
partner hold all the other three suits, B can 
neither make a great many in hearts, nor jump 
to any other bid. 

In this case, Z will lead ace and then king 
of diamonds, to show no more. On this 
second round of diamonds, B should throw his 
queen of diamonds to unblock for Dummy's 
jack; then, unless Z throws his partner in on a 
spade lead, so as to get his diamond-ruff, B has 
a re-entry in Dummy. For the moment Z leads 
short (mark well what I am about to say), B 
knows positively that the queen of trumps lies 
with Y. No player sitting in Z's position (on the 
safe side of the heart-bid) would invite a ruff if 



Test Hand No. 9 165 

he held a guarded trump-honor. He would 
keep it to take a trump-round. B knows, then, 
that the queen is either unguarded in Z's hand, 
or guarded in Y's. He must take no chances of 
leading up to it, if Y has it. 

B knows, too, that, if Y' s queen is guarded, Z 
has but a singleton trump (seven trumps in his 
own hand, two in Dummy, and three in Y's make 
twelve — that leaves but one for Z). Thus if Z 
should happen to lead his own suit (clubs) on 
the third round, hoping to find his partner short 
and to establish a cross-ruff (a very natural lead), 
B would trump the first round of clubs, lead one 
round of trumps to pull Z's singleton and kill 
his diamond-ruff, then lead his ten of diamonds 
and take with Dummxy's jack, and put the trump 
through Y*s queen. 

It is a beautiful plan — ^but it can be frustrated 
by Z's lead of a spade, in place of a club, on the 
third round. That will put Y in, and he will 
give Z his diamond-ruff and pull B's only re- 
maining diamond. However, if B gets the lead, 
he can throw it with a spade-lead up to Y, and 
Y will probably lead his fourth diamond, hoping 
to give his partner another ruff — as he cannot tell 
that Z (having doubled) had but a singleton in 
trumps. If Y makes this lead. Dummy's jack 
takes as B wants it to. It is a wonderfully 



i66 Test Hand No, lO 

interesting hand, and that is an invaluable point 
to remember, in the event of a short lead; the 
moment a player leads short, place any pro- 
blematical trump-honor that you may lack, in 
his partner's hand rather than in his. His 
trumps are apt to be nothing but useless spots. 
No one leads short with good trumps that he 
wants to protect. 

Test Hand No. lo 

(A very peculiar hand.) 

The bidding on this hand might vary exceed- 
ingly and yet be correct. And the fact that the 
score is love-all on the first game of a new rubber 
leaves one quite independent in that respect; 
when the score makes no demands upon you, 
you can do much that you would not otherwise 
do. 

I can give no set rule for the bidding of this 
hand other than to repeat my oft-reiterated 
caution against any possible doubling of bids 
of one; and to remind you that forcing bids do 
not always force — you may get left with them. 
Were I any — or all — of the four players holding 
the cards in this hand, I should bid it in this 
way : 



Test Hand No. lO 



167 



9KQJ84 
4^7642 
10 6 4 3 

♦ 



^' A 10 9 7 6 3 2 
* 

o 

4k A98753 




9 

4k K 10 9 8 5 3 

OKJ875 

4 J 10 



95 

♦ aqj 

<>AQ92 

4kKQ642 

Z can open this with "a no-trump" or "a 
royal/' Most players woiild choose the former, 
because it is higher in value, much more popular 
with the average player, and because hearts 
will probably be bid if the adversaries hold them. 
I should choose the suit-bid, because of the 
heart-singleton; I have a horror of singletons 
and missing suits in no-trump. 

"A royal'' would please A and "a no-trump" 
would not — with two blank-suits. Whichever 
Z bids, I think A should say "two hearts"; in 
the event of Z's no-trump, A will say this in 
order to play the hand; in the event of Z's 
"royal," A will say it to force him. 



i68 



Test Hand No. 11 



Two hearts is too good to spoil, as far as Y is 
concerned. He passes. 

The bid does not suit B at all. But he can 
do nothing but pass. He has two tricks in his 
hand, and that must be his comfort. 

Z is no better pleased, and does not know of his 
partner's pleasure. No-trump is now out of 
the question, but I think his side-suit and his 
heart-singleton would warrant *'two royals." 

Then A is the one to smile and to pass. B 
can do nothing but pass, and Z plays a most 
remarkable and disappointing hand. 

Test Hand No. ii 

(A hand whose interest hinges solely on the 
new count.) 

^876 

4k A 10 8 4 

o 

4k A J 108 64 



4kK97 

<> A 10 9 7 5 2 

432 


Y 

A B 
Z 


^ A Q 10 4 2 
O KQ63 


{ 


*QJ3 
J84 

ljkKQ75 





Test Hand No. 11 169 

Score: Game each and nothing on the rubber- 
game. Z-Y have 450 in penalties to A-B's 200. 

A glance will show you that it is a battle be- 
tween red suits and black — a battle that would 
have been an impossibility before the era of the 
new count. 

Z, being 250 ahead in penalties, does not care 
to risk losing them on a shaky bid. He says 
'*a spade/' 

A passes, leaving Y to get his partner out of 
the hole. If Y bids, A can bid later ; if Y passes, 
A-B have two poor hands against them, and 
the chance to win back 100 of their lost penalties. 

Y says ''a royal" and B says "two hearts.'' 
Most players, in Z's place, would say '*two 

royals." Z has not a raiser in his hand. His 
two tricks are in the same suit ; he has no outside 
aces or kings, no singletons, and no missing suit. 
The other side will lead, and they will not lead 
trumps! Z has eight losing suit-cards. He 
must pass. 

Y bids the "two royals." His bid will not 
put him game, and B has six or seven losing 
cards — too many for a three-bid. He must pass 
and see whether his partner has a raiser. 

A has, and says ''three hearts." 
From then on, it is a battle between the red 
suits and the black. Nothing but the tempera. 



IJO 



Test Hand No. 12 



ment of the players, the soundness of their game, 
and their adherence, or non-adherence, to the 
rules will determine the remainder of the bidding. 

Test Hand No. 12 

(A mistaken double, and some other mistakes.) 

I will give you this hand as it was originally 
played, in order to sound some warning notes. 



AKQJ4 

4kKQJ9 







Y 

A B 

Z 


^ A 10 5 4 2 
4^10 8 
032 
4b A765 


V 
4kKQJ9753 

10 8 7 5 

4^102 


< 
i 


^KQ J98 
|i A43 

1^843 





It was only the third hand dealt and A-B 
had had phenomenal luck; the first hand, A 
had held a no-trumper with a hundred aces. 



Test Hand No. 12 171 

He held all the cards, no one could make a bid 
against him, and he made 40 below the line and 
100 above. The next hand, B had held 72 hon- 
ors in royals and had scored 2^ below the line. 
Thus, when the deal came to Z, his opponents 
were game in and 27-0 on the rubber game, with 
172 points above the line, while Z and his 
partner had an absolutely blank score. Z was 
anxious to do something handsome, and to lose 
no time about it. At first his hand did not look 
wonderfully promising. He opened with '*a 
heart." 

This was good news to B. Imagine sitting 
in his place, holding that rather discouraging 
hand, and hearing your adversary bid on the 
very suit in which you held five cards to two 
honors, including the ace. 

A followed with ''two clubs.'' 

Y could have said ''two hearts'* on his club- 
singleton and his two wonderful side-suits. 
Instead, he said "two diamonds, " because of his 
56 honors; they would reduce those hundred 
aces held by A two hands back to less than half 
their original value. 

B passed. 

Z realized that his hand was not of much use, 
except in hearts; he realized, too, that his hearts 
were excellent, lying, as they did, in such close 



172 Test Hand No. 12 

sequence. That is my first point — the strength 
that lies in a sequence. It is the holes in a suit 
that weaken it. Z remembered also the diffi- 
culty in going game in diamonds ; it meant that 
the other side must take but two tricks, whereas 
in hearts he could give them three tricks and 
still go game. And it was his great object to go 
game in the hand and wipe off that discouraging 
27-0. With the score at game-all, things would 
look much brighter. He determined to use his 
partner's diamonds as a strong side-suit, and to 
go back to his own higher suit. Accordingly 
he bid ''two hearts." 

A saw no danger of Z going game on that bid ; 
he lacked the ace of his own suit, and held six 
wretched side-cards. He passed. Y passed, 
and B made the terrible mistake of doubling 
''two hearts.'' Many players would do this 
in B's place. 

It was fundamentally wrong, because you 
should "never double anything unless you can 
double everything." If B wanted to play that 
hand at hearts, why should he risk frightening Y 
back to diamonds? B could not double dia- 
nionds, and he could not double no-trumps; the 
only thing he wanted was hearts, therefore he 
should not warn the adversaries of what he took 
to be their danger. 



Test Hand No, 12 173 

Again, he sat ''under'' the heart-bid and could 
be led through, and, as his cards were far from 
being in sequence, such a process would hurt him 
greatly. 

And, lastly, ''two hearts" would not put Z 
game, if he made it, and two hearts doubled 
would do just that. 

Z was delighted with the double. He was 
absolutely sure of making it, with his trvunps in 
sequence, and his partner holding good diamonds. 
Had he been playing with experts, he would 
never have dreamed of redoubling, because he 
liked his position too well to want it changed. 
Moreover, no expert would have doubled his 
hearts unless he could have doubled Y's diamonds 
as well. And with a better player sitting oh 
the other side of him, Z would have been afraid 
of a return to "three clubs.'' This bid Z was 
almost sure of defeating; he held the ace of 
clubs and two small; his partner held the dia- 
monds, and he himself might get a ruff on the 
third round, and the good hearts were his after 
the ace was gone. He might defeat "three 
clubs," but It would be far less profitable than 
making two hearts doubled. 

Z was conscious that he played very poor 
Auction when he redoubled that bid. These 
were his reasons : 



174 Test Hand No. 12 

1 . He had taken the gauge of his adversaries. 

2. The score made him anxious to pull off 
something tremendous. 

3. He feared Y would go back to the dia- 
monds if he saw his partner doubled and afraid 
to redouble. 

4. He had no suit to fear but royals, 
and he reasoned thus: If A had good royals, 
he would have bid them instead of clubs. 
And if B had good royals, he would have 
covered Y's first diamond bid instead of 
passing. Also B's hand must be rather full 
of hearts. 

Z redoubled 'Hwo hearts,*' and prayed 
that A would not go back to clubs; his pray- 
ers were answered. A should certainly have 
said *' three clubs" on his missing heart-suit and 
Z's redouble. He feared to do so because he 
lacked the ace and held six losing suit-cards. 

Every one passed, and Z made a small 
slam on a bid of "two hearts" doubled and 
redoubled. B took nothing but his ace of 
trumps; he should have made his ace of 
spades, but by a faulty play he lost it and 
allowed Z to make a slam. Z scored 192 
points, 16 honors, 20 for slam, 100 for bonus, 
and 400 for extra tricks, — a total of 728 points 
on the hand. 



Test Hand No, 12 175 

A led the king of clubs, which Z took with 
the ace. He saved Dummy's club-ruff for 
later, and got into Dummy with a diamond 
in order to lead trumps through B. B put 
up his ten on the first round of trumps, 
and Z took with the jack. As soon as he 
found A was chicane, he gave up pulling 
two trumps for one and began to lead 
Dummy's diamonds. B hated to trump, know- 
ing that Z would over-trump; he therefore 
continued to discard on all the diamonds, and 
allowed Z to do likewise. In this way Z got 
rid of all his spades, and trumped B's ace. 
By trumping the diamonds and forcing Z 
to over-trump, B would have saved his ace 
of spades and 152 points, 20 for slam, 32 for 
the trick, and 100 for its extra value above 
the line. 

The mistakes in this hand were : 

1. B's double, sitting where he did, and with 
his hearts not in sequence; also with the score 
as it was. 

2. Z*s redouble. He risked frightening the 
adversary away to another suit. 

3. A's failure to bid ''three clubs.'* 

4. B's failure to trump the diamonds when 
they were led through him. He made Z a 
present of all those spade discards. 



176 



Test Hand No. 13 



Test Hand No. 13 

(Changing ''one no-trump" to two in a suit.) 



^10 5 2 




4^853 




i 


J98754 




4 


Ik9 




9QJ83 


Y 


^96 


4kA9 
0Q32 


A B 


4^10 7 6 

10 


^Kq4:2 


Z 


4k J1087653 


■ 


(^AK74 




< 


#|QKJ42 




■ 


AK6 




i 


(►a 





Z opens with a "no-trump." And would n't 
any one say that he had a perfect beauty? Yet 
he simply cannot make the odd. 

It is Y's undoubted business to change that 
bid to two diamonds. His lack of aces and kings 
(his partner's suit is "high-cards," and he has 
none), and his spade singleton together with his 
six diamonds to an honor (a seven-point make), 
all demand a "two-diamond" bid from Y. He 
would be an awful weight at no-trump; but his 



Test Hand No. 14 



177 



partner's no-trump hand shoiild make his hand 
a good one for two diamonds. 

This is another instance of the weakness of a 
singleton in no-trump, even though the single- 
ton be an ace. 



Test Hand No. 14 

(Double rather than bid.) 



9 J985 
4I1A862 
O2 

^8765 




9Q764 

4L1093 

06 

4b J9432 


Y 

A B 

Z 


^102 

*74 

OKQ87543 

♦ qio 




\} AK3 
4ilKQJ5 
A J 10 9 
4kAK 





On the original appearance of this hand, Z 
bid '*a no-trump,'' A passed, Y passed, and B 
said "two diamonds." 

Of course Z coiild have said '* two no-trumps " ; 
but equally, of course, he could beat ''two dia- 



12 



178 



Test Hand No. 13 



monds/' and at a much greater profit. Also, he 
could beat two of anything else, so he doubled. 
B did a remarkable thing — he redoubled. 
Whether he thought he could make it, or whether 
he hoped to frighten Z back to a bid, I do not 
know. At any rate, the hand was played at 
''two diamonds'' redoubled, and Z scored 814 
points. 

Test Hand No. 15 

("Process of elimination,'* in bid.) 



\ 


^7643 




i 


4I1QIO9 






0J4 






4k AK96 




9Q1085 


Y 


^KJQ 


4i87 


A B 


4iJ5432 


10 6 5 2 


873 


4kQJ6 


Z 


4^10 7 


{ 


;:7a2 




i 


I1AK6 






0AKQ9 




i 


1^8432 





This hand was played in duplicate boards, 
by two rival clubs. 



Test Hand No. 16 



179 



In the first club, Z opened the bidding cor- 
rectly with ''one no-trump*' (following the 
process of elimination). 

The Z of the second club opened with ''one 
diamond/' 

In both cases every one else passed. Each Z 
scored 4-odd on the hand; but in the first case 
they were worth 40 (more than game), plus 40 
honors; and in the second case they were 
worth 28 (not game), plus 56 honors. 

Test Hand No. i6 

(A difficult hand to bid.) 



^64 

4^96 

AK J63 

4KQJ4 



♦ a 

Q 10 9 8 7 

4b A 10 8 7 5 3 


A 


Y 
Z 


B 



^K8752 
d|kQ8543 
042 



9 Q J 10 9 3 
a|k E J 10 7 2 

05 
4^96 



i8o Test Hand No. 16 

The score is game-all. Z deals; he has to 
choose between ''a spade'' and a thoroughly 
unsound ** heart/* If he says the former, he has 
almost the certainty that the adversaries will 
not bid against him, and that the responsibility 
will fall on his partner. If he bids the heart, 
the adversaries will be more apt to bid, but Z's 
unsound bid may deceive his partner. Z should 
bid the spade. 

A passes and Y bids '*a diamond.** B says 
"a heart** on his diamond singleton and the 
certainty that the hand that lies ''over'* him is 
a weak one. 

Z could say "two diamonds'* if he chose; he 
has a trick (his heart king), and a raiser (his 
singleton). But I should think he would prefer 
to play against the heart bid. He could not 
double, for two reasons: first, because he is not 
sufficiently sure of defeating the bid, and ''a 
poor double is worse than a poor make**; and 
second, because he might frighten A to royals> 
which he could not defeat. 

If Y goes to *'two diamonds** he will be dis- 
appointed. He can take but the book. 

On the other hand, A can make two royals 
(if he should choose to bid in that suit) , in spite 
of the fact that Y sits over him with four, to 
the king-queen-jack. A's two singleton aces 



Test Hand No. 17 



i8i 



give him a very strong hand in anything but 
no-trump. 

Test Hand No. 17 

(Do not change your partner's double to a bid.) 

<^KQ J65 
♦ K Q 10 5 
<>K10 2 



^A 10 98742 
4^ A 

4^63 




9 

4^97642 
9654 
4k J 10 8 5 



93 

4iiJ88 

A87 

4k AKQ972 

The score is i8-all on the rubber-game, but 
A-B are 250 behind in penalties. Twice, they 
have held spade hands which they were forced 
to play because the adversaries were too clever 
to take them out of a one-spade bid, and each 
time they lost a hundred. The other fifty was 
lost on a perfectly sound bid that failed to go 
through because of the position of the cards; 



i82 Test Hand No. 17 

every finesse failed, and B (who was playing 
the hand), was set for one trick — making 250 
penalties against him and his partner. 

Now 250 does not seem a serious loss, yet 
see how these two players were hampered by it 
when the rubber-game came to i8-all. They 
must positively get the rubber in order to come 
out even ; if they lost the rubber, they lost 500 ; 
and even by winning it they won nothing at all 
— they simply avoided loss. That rubber was 
bound to be a loss at the worst, or a blank at 
the best. 

Z opened this hand with '*a royal," and A 
rushed to the breach with ' ' two hearts. ' ' And he 
had a perfectly sound two-heart bid; seven 
hearts are the bigger half of thirteen, and two 
of them being honors raised the bid to a nine- 
point make (counting two for each honor and 
one for each plain card). Seven points is an 
average bid, and in addition A held a singleton 
side-ace, and a diamond stopper that was a 
sequence stopper. But he had a partner whose 
hand was a dead weight. 

Y doubled "two hearts/* He had a perfect 
double, because he could double the adversaries 
in any suit to which they jumped ("Never 
double anything unless you can double every- 
thing''). Y had everything but spades, and 



Test Hand No. 17 183 

his partner had shown them ; if A-B tried to get 
out with "two no-trumps," Y could certainly 
double them; if they tried ''two royals/' Z could 
double them, and they could not make either 
"three diamonds" or "three clubs." 

The results of the doubled two hearts were 
disastrous to A-B. The adversaries made 200 — • 
raising the total in penalties to 450. This made 
the rubber itself a 200-point loss to A-B and 
anything else a worse loss. With the score at 
18-18 on the rubber-game, there is very little 
chance to catch up in penalties, especially with 
adversaries who play well enough to allow you 
to take a losing rubber rather than make a risky 
bid themselves. 

After Y doubled the two hearts and B passed, 
many players holding Z's cards would have bid 
"two royals, " arguing that it meant rubber and 
"sure money." Z preferred to let Y make 100 
a trick for every trick over five, rather than take 
him back to a suit that was worth 9 a trick for 
every trick over six. For aught Z knew, his 
partner might take three-odd tricks, and if he 
did, they would be worth more than the rubber 
itself. 

Z took but two-odd, and the following hand 
gave them all a problem. It was' A's deal, 
but he will now have to be designated by "Z, " 



i84 



Test Hand No, 18 



in order to place him in the dealer's position 
in the diagram. Remember, though, that the 
dealer and his partner are 450 behind in penalties. 

Test Hand No. i8 

(The predicament in which the dealer and his 
partner may find themselves, if the rubber- 
game stands at i8-all and they are 450 
behind in penalties.) 

O J963 

4k K 107 6 53 

^85 

4t A 10 7 5 2 

Oio 

^ AQ942 



^ A Q J 10 7 2 




Y 




87542 


A 




B 


♦ 




Z 





9k94 
4iK9643 

Oakq 
4 Jd 



Z bid "a no-trump/' A could have passed 
and given Z a losing rubber, but he had some- 
thing better to do. He saw a chance to go 



Test Hand No. 18 185 

rubber himself, with 64 heart-honors ; so he said 
''two-hearts." 

Y could not stop the hearts, so he could not 
raise the no-trump bid. However, he said 
''two royals, " on six to two honors, a singleton, 
and his partner's no-trump hand. 

B passed. The bid suited him and he had 
no desire to send Z back to no-trumps.. Z con- 
sidered that he had an excellent hand to help 
two royals, and passed. 

A was too wise to bid three hearts when he 
did n't have to. His partner had given him no 
raise, he held seven losing cards, and would win 
even if the other side took rubber. He passed. 

B led his singleton diamond, reserving the 
hearts to throw his partner the lead later and 
thus get the diamond ruff. 

Y was set for two tricks, making his penalty- 
losses total 550. 

In spite of my love of penalties, I think B 
should have given his partner a legitimate raise 
to ''three hearts" ; he had a trick and two raisers 
(his two aces and his singleton). They would 
then have scored 24 points plus 64 honors 
plus 250 for rubber — a total of 338, and a big 
rubber. 

Under those circumstances, the dealer's plight 
would have been worse than ever. 



i86 



Test Hand No. 19 



Test Hand No. 19 

(A position where it is right to break the rule 
against bidding on jack-suits.) 

^ J 10 9 7 5 4 
♦ A Q 6 
0K73 



C?Q82 




Y 




9 AK3 


4^32 


A 




B 


4^ J 10 9 5 


C> 954 




QJ6 


4kK:Q653 




Z 




4kA87 



^6 

♦ K874 
A 10 8 2 
4 J 10 9 4 

Z bids ''a spade/' and A passes (with hopes 
of gathering some penalties). Then Y bids **a 
heart'' on a jack-suit. He does this to take his 
partner out of the spade, by which they seem 
doomed to lose lOO. And it is hardly likely 
(with Y's hearts) that they can lose more than 
100 in that suit. Then, too, Y's bid is not the 
opening-bid; he knows that his partner (with a 
spade hand) will not go to no-trumps, — which 
is the principal danger with jack-bids; and he 



Test Hand No. 20 



187 



knows that no one can hold more than simple 
honors against him. 

Y can just make the odd if B leads a club; 
he makes two-odd if B leads the ace of spades ; 
and he makes three-odd if B leads the queen of 
diamonds, — and any of these leads would be 
perfectly correct. 

If B bids a ''no-trump/* he can make just the 
odd. I should consider it a very light bid on 
three mere stoppers and a three-card suit. Only 
the state of the score could warrant it. 

Test Hand No. 20 

(On taking the adversary out of a one-spade bid.) 

^ K 10 4 
4iiQ863 
Oa92 

4KJ10 



^A7 




Y 




99862 


d|kA5 


A 




B 


4^ E J 10 9 4 


<>J7643 




<C>K8 


4AQ74 




Z 




4^96 



^QJ53 
4l72 
OQ105 
4^8532 



i88 Test Hand No. 20 

Z bids ''a spade," and A should certainly pass. 
If Y passes, B must pass too. 

Played at a spade, A-B score loo. Should A 
declare **a no-trump'' (against Z's opening 
spade), he can score; lo. Partial games are 
worth very little. One hundred is ten times 
better than ten! 

It would take a good deal of courage, on the 
part of Y, to bid no-trump on one ace, two kings, 
and a queen, after a discouraging spade-bid 
from his partner. However, if he does try it, 
he saves one trick, losing 50 instead of 100. 
This 50, even, is more profitable to A than his 
no-trump bid. 

On a club-bid from B, he and his partner could 
make two-odd. This proves that A-B have the 
winning combination, but that they must take 
less on their own declaration than on the ad- 
versary's. Their profits are 100 (on the ad- 
versary's spade), or 50 (on the adversary's 
no-trump), or 12 (on their own club), or 10 
(on their own no-trump). There should not be 
much hesitation, on their part, whether to 
declare or to defeat. 



Two-Handed Auction 

A VERY fascinating game for two players is the 
new one of two-handed Auction. 

It is played with a full pack of cards. The 
dealer deals his adversary and himself each 
thirteen cards, alternately. Two cards are 
dealt, face-down, to form a '* widow," and the 
remaining twenty-four cards lie in a pack, face 
down, with the exception of the top one, which 
is turned face-up. Each player looks at his hand 
and decides what suit (or suits) he had better 
keep and draw to ; also whether he wants the card 
that is faced on the top of the pack. Suppose 
your original thirteen cards are these : 

4^10 8 4 

4k AJ9872 

You see at a glance that you have the founda- 
tion of an excellent royal-hand. Suppose the 
card faced on top of the pack is the queen of 

189 



190 T^ro-Handed Avictioxi 

spades, and it is your lead (i. e., that the other 
player dealt). The only way for you to get 
that queen is to take the first trick, and the only 
taking card in your hand is the ace of spades, 
for at this point of the game there are no trumps, 
the players have either to follow suit or to dis- 
card. You, therefore, lead your ace of spades. 
Your adversary must follow suit if he can. If 
not, he discards, and in either case you take the 
trick. But you do not lay it in front of you. 
The two played cards are thrown to one side, 
face-down, in the discard pile. You take the 
queen of spades from the pack and your adver- 
sary takes the next card. He knows your card, 
but you do not know his — it may be good or bad. 
But you both know that the ace of spades is in the 
discard pile, and can never appear later in the 
hand — in other words, the king of spades is now 
the highest spade. Another card is turned up 
on the pack — say the four of hearts. It is your 
lead, as you took the last trick. You don't 
want the four of hearts, so you lead to lose it, 
the three of hearts. Your adversary may be 
forced to take this, or he may hold the two and 
play under your three, thus forcing the four on 
you, or he may be filling his hand to hearts and 
may want even a small one. In any case the 
two cards just played are thrown into the dis- 



T-wo-Handed A.\iction 191 

card pile, another card is turned, and the pla^^er 
who took the last trick leads. // is always a 
mistake to force, or allow, your adversary to take 
too many cards of the same suit, even if they are 
small ones, particularly if they are in a high 
suit. And it is very essential to remember what 
cards have been played and thrown aside. 

When the last two cards have been taken from 
the pack, there are twenty-four cards in the 
discard pile, two in the widow, and thirteen in 
the hand of each player. Then you start in to 
play Auction. The player who took the last 
trick is forced to open the bidding; his adversary 
covers, passes, or doubles, and the bidding goes 
from player to player till one of them passes. 
This closes the bidding. 

The successful declarant may take the widow, 
or leave it. If he takes it, he is forced to keep 
both cards that he has picked up, and to discard 
two other cards from his hand. And he may 
not discard any ace or any trump. It would give 
him too much of an advantage to know that a 
certain ace, or a certain trump, was out of the 
way, while his adversary was still awaiting its 
appearance. If his hand should not hold two 
cards that are eligible to discard, and if he is 
forced to discard an ace or a trump, he must do 
it face-up. 



192 T^wo-Handed Aviction 

If the successful declarant refuses the widow, 
his adversary may take it, or leave it, with the 
same conditions. 

The adversary of the successful declarant 
makes the opening lead, and the remainder of 
the game is played under the same laws as four- 
handed Auction. 

It is an excellent memory-test, to keep track 
of all the cards in the discard pile, and the widow 
lends the element of chance to the game. 



^^ Royals" or ^^ Lilies'' 

In my former book, The Fine Points of Auction 
Bridge^ I used the term ''Lilies" where, in the 
present volume, I have substituted ''Royals/' 
I must explain the discrepancy. 

For a long time, I resisted the use of " Royal,'* 
for several reasons. In the first place, I accepted 
the new count just as it was made, by its creators. 
They gave the suits their new values and called 
the new suit " Lilies.'' Why should I not accept 
their term as well as their values? 

*' Royal" was brought into use by a number 
of players who not only did not make the new 
count, but who held it back and refused it 
countenance as long as possible. When forced 
to fall into line, they substituted the word 
"Royal" for the "Lily" they had so ridiculed. 

Then, I greatly dislike the use of an adjective 
for a noun. All the other suits have nouns for 
names, — why not the new one? 

However, "Royal" has become the more popu- 
lar term, and is therefore the one to be adopted. 

13 193 



194 " Royals *• or ** Lilies *' ? 

In matters of principle, it is necessary to stand 
out against opposition, because there, often, 
to be alone is to be right. But in all matters of 
taste and of convention, to be alone is to be wrong. 
Personal taste must yield to the taste of the 
majority, or be eccentric. And non-essentials 
are not worthy of so much resistance. There- 
fore, I have adopted the word which has found 
favor with the majority of players. 



'' Card-sense " 

We hear a great deal about ** card-sense'* ; it is 
an expression in constant use. Such and such 
a person has ''no card-sense" and can never 
learn to play; another has wonderful /'card- 
sense.*' I contend that there is no separate gift 
that should bear that name. It is true that 
certain persons acquire quickly any card game 
that is presented, to them, and achieve a high 
grade of skill in it; and it is equally true that 
certain other persons seem incapable of grasping 
such things. Yet no one could lay this to stu- 
pidity ; the non-card player may be as brilliantly 
clever a person as any that you will ever meet. 
So, for want of a truer definition, we have coined 
the term of card-sense. 

Card-sense is the possession (natural or ac- 
quired) of a number of gifts — all of which are of 
the greatest use, not only at cards, but in the 
entire course of one's life. The first and greatest 
of these gifts is concentration. Brilliancy and 
concentration do not always go hand in hand; 
but concentration and skill at cards are insepa- 

195 



196 Card-Sense 

rable. When you are playing a hand, that hand 
should be the only thing in the world, as far as 
you are concerned. No fascinating thoughts of 
new toilets, no engaging bits of gossip at the 
next table, no dream of love, even, should share 
your consciousness. The woman who looks up 
with vague eyes in the middle of an enthralling 
hand and wonders whether she will rent her 
house this summer, is the woman who should 
either give up Auction, or buckle down to it. 
You simply cannot get the most out of a difficult 
hand unless you are thinking of that hand ex- 
clusively at the moment you are playing it. To 
some persons this gift of concentration is natural ; 
others acquire it with difficulty. But it can he 
acguired. And who will gainsay me when I 
maintain that it is one of the most useful of 
mental attributes? 

After concentration, I should place memory. 
It does not take a phenomenal memory to keep 
track of thirteen cards in each of four different 
suits. Almost any trained intelligence can re- 
member fifty-two objects. But Auction mem- 
ory does not end there. You must remember 
the rules, the leads, the bids, and, above all, 
the similar situations under which you have seen 
existing conditions approximated, and what were 
the results of those situations. And this will 



Card-Sense 197 

help you toward the acquiring of the third 
requisite — judgment. 

Your judgment of an existing condition and of 
the best way of handling it may be naturally 
quick and sound. If it is not, it can positively 
be made so by seeing that situation arise again 
and again, in a more or less modified form, and 
by having forced upon your consciousness the 
results of various forms of handling it. Memory 
will help you with past experiences, and practice 
with present ones. 

Practice or habit is the fourth great ingredient 
in this recipe. Play, play, play — provided al- 
ways that you play intelligently. There is 
nothing else that will so help your game. 

There are two more elements that make toward 
success at cards, and those two I will grant are 
more apt to be inborn than acquired; but they 
are not so absolutely essential as those I have 
already mentioned. The first of these two is 
quickness, and the second is harder to define. 
It is the gift of foreseeing hypothetical situations 
and their results, should they arise; it is the gift 
of the chess player. He does not pick up the 
pieces and move them around to see what will 
be the result of a certain play; he looks at the 
board, and (without touching a piece) he says to 
himself: ''If I move thus, or thus, my adversary 



198 Card-Sense 

will be able to do this or that ; then I can go on 
to such and. such a move/' etc. He is able to 
look ahead and foresee the outcomes of different 
modes of procedure without losing himself in a 
labyrinth. Personally I find this the hardest 
gift to acquire, and that is probably the reason 
that I am willing to consider it inborn. 

Take, then, this prescription for the acquiring 
of card-sense: Three parts of concentration, 
two parts each of memory, judgment, and prac- 
tice; one part of foresight, and one-half part of 
quickness. Dose: from three to six times a 
week for six months. The result is guaranteed. 



THE NECESSITY FOR A UNIVERSAL STANDARD OF 
BID AND DOUBLE. 

For three or four years, Auction has been in 
the making; now, it stands made and perfected. 
All suggested theories of bid and double, all 
proposed conventions of information, have been 
thoroughly tested by the master-players, and 
embraced or discarded. The ones that live are 
the ones that have been proved both sound and 
useful. The discarded ones are those that, 
though sound, are unnecessary and therefore 
useless ; or those that would be useful if sound, 
but which contain an unfortunate flaw. 

The result of this testing by recognized au- 
thorities is a game that is as nearly perfect as 
any game can be. But, unhappily, it is still far 
from being generally understood and practiced. 
The mass of players think they are playing Auc- 
tion when they are merely playing Bid-Bridge; 
they have not the faintest conception of the 
game in its perfected form. They think they 
understand the new count, simply because they 
know its suit values. It would be as sensible 

199 



200 A. Universal Standard 

to think that they knew all about a book simply 
because they had seen its cover ! 

The want of a universal knowledge and accept- 
ance of the established code of bidding and doubling, 
and the substitution of personal and eccentric 
theories, are the present bars to perfect Auction, 

All professionals, all experts, and all first- 
grade players everywhere play exactly the 
same game. Except in a few minor details, 
their theories are the same, and their practice 
always upholds those theories. The result is a 
game of rare delight, where every one speaks 
the same language. But to play with a person 
who has his own personal theories as to bid and 
double, is to try and converse with a stranger 
who speaks nothing but an unintelligible jargon. 
Multiply this into the thousands, and you get 
an idea of the average Auction of the day. 

It is the effort and desire of all experts to do 
away with this confusion. Such an end can le 
accomplished in but one way: every person who 
aspires to play Auction must be willing to waive 
his personal theories in favor of a universal 
standard. Let him rest assured that he can 
think of nothing that has not already been 
thought of, played, and tested. If it has not a 
place in the game of to-day, it is because it does 
not deserve one. 



-A. Universal Standard 201 

In old Bridge, no one attempted to set up 
individual standards; no one advocated freak 
leads, freak conventions, or freak play. Why, 
then, should they insist now on freak bids and 
doubles? 

With the exception of the discard from 
strength or from weakness — every one played 
the same Bridge — except for a greater or less 
degree of skill. Their aim was the same, 
namely, to acquire skill in the game by mastering 
its accepted rules as quickly as possible, — but 
never to make a new game of their own! Soli- 
taire is the only game that offers a field for 
personal excursions into the Un-accepted. 

Until this universality becomes established 
in Auction, the pleasure of the game must be 
marred and its progress impeded. It is a con- 
stant surprise to see the wretched Auction that 
is played by perfect Bridge-players. Their bids 
and their doubles mean nothing under the sun 
to any one but themselves. They bid on jack- 
suits and ten -suits; they double bids of one 
(and, incidentally, let the adversary out) ; they 
open with a two-bid — sometimes to show 
strength, sometimes weakness; they double the 
only suit they can possibly hope to defeat ; they 
make bids that they could n't possibly play, 
''just to give information'*; they raise without 



202 A Universal Standard 

raisers; they change doubles to bids; they feel 
it necessary to "rescue" their partner from a 
double which has delighted him; they bid *'one 
when they want to be taken out and two when 
they want to stay in'' (which is about the most 
remarkable theory I ever heard) ; they bid no- 
trump without a stopper in the adversary's 
suit; it is impossible, in fact, to enumerate their 
elementary errors. The bidding closes in a 
haze of uncertainty, where it is impossible to 
count winning cards or losing cards, or to place 
any reliance in any information that has been 
given; and then these same persons sit up and 
proceed to play absolutely flawless Bridge. 
And you groan in spirit, and wonder how it is 
possible to be so skillful in the one game, and 
so hopelessly short-sighted in the other. Their 
Bridge is goody because they accept the game as it 
was made; their Auction is wretched, because each 
one is insisting on having a finger in the making 
of the pie! 

Every player who accepts, digests, practices, 
and spreads the established standard of bid and 
double is helping to hasten the Auction mil- 
lennium, which can never otherwise arrive. 



The Laws of Auction Bridge' 

Also the Etiquette of the Game as Approved 

and Adopted by The Whist Club of 

New York, September, 191 2 

Reprinted_by permission 



THE RUBBER 

1. The partners first winning two games 
win the rubber. If the first two games decide 
the rubber, a third is not played. 

SCORING 

2. A game consists of thirty points obtained 
by tricks alone, exclusive of any points counted 
for honors, chicane, slam, little slam, bonus, or 
undertricks. 

3. Every deal is played out, and any points 
in excess of the thirty necessary for the game 
are counted. 

4. When the declarer wins the number of 
tricks bid, each one above six counts towards 
the game: two points when spades are trumps, 

^Copyright, 1912, by The Whist Club, New York. 

203 



204 TKe La^ws of -AL\Jction Bridge 

six when clubs are trumps, seven when diamonds 
are trumps, eight when hearts are trumps, nine 
when royal spades are trumps, and ten when 
there are no trumps. 

5. Honors are ace, king, queen, knave, and 
ten of the trump suit ; or the aces when no trump 
is declared. 

6. Honors are credited in the honor column 
to the original holders, being valued as follows: 

When a Trump is Declared. 
3 honorslheld between partners equal value of 2 tricks. 



4 


(( 


li 4( <i f ( 


«• 


4 


5 


<< 


II l< it 4* 


<• 


5 


4 


II 


" in I hand 

( sth in 


«( 


8 


4 


II 


" "I "• partner's • 
hand 


(• 


9 


5 


•1 


II II - II II 


t« 


10 



When No Trump is Declared. 

3 aces held between partners count 30 

4 " •• '• •' " 40 
4 " " in one hand ** 100 

7. Slam is made when seven by cards is 
scored by either side, independently of tricks 
taken as penalty for the revoke; it adds forty 
points to the honor count. ' 

8. Little slam is made when six by cards is 
similarly scored; it adds twenty points to the 
honor count. ' 

" Law 84 prohibits the revoking side from scoring slam 
or little slam. 



TKe La^vs of -A.\action Bridge 205 

9. Chicane (one hand void of trumps) is 
equal in value to simple honors, i. e,, if the 
partners, one of whom has chicane, score honors, 
it adds the value of three honors to their honor 
score; if the adversaries score honors it deducts 
that value from theirs. Double chicane (both 
hands void of trumps) is equal in value to four 
honors, and that value must be deducted from 
the honor score of the adversaries. 

10. The value of honors, slam, little slam, 
or chicane is not affected by doubling or 
redoubling. 

11. At the conclusion of a rubber the trick 
and honor scores of each side are added, and 
two hundred and fifty points added to the score 
of the winners. The difference between the 
completed scores is the number of points of the 
rubber. 

12. A proven error in the honor score may 
be corrected at any time before the score of 
the rubber has been made up and agreed upon. 

13. A proven error in the trick score may 
be corrected prior to the conclusion of the game 
in v/hich it occurred. Such game shall not be 
considered concluded until a declaration has 
been made in the following game, or if it be the 
final game of the rubber, until the score has been 
made up and agreed upon. 



206 TKe La-ws of A\iction Bridge 



CUTTING 

14. In cutting, the ace is the lowest card; 
as between cards of otherwise equal value, the 
lowest is the heart, next the diamond, next the 
club, and highest the spade. 

15. Every player must cut from the same 
pack. 

16. Should a player expose more than one 
card, the highest in his cut. 

FORMING TABLES 

17. The prior right of playing is with those 
first in the room. If there are more than four 
candidates of equal standing, the privilege of 
playing is decided by cutting. The four who 
cut the lowest cards play first. 

18. After the table is formed the players cut 
to decide upon partners, the two lower playing 
against the two higher. The lowest is the 
dealer who has choice of cards and seats, and 
who, having made his selection, must abide by it. 

19. Six players constitute a complete table. 

20. The right to succeed any player who may 
retire is acquired by announcing the desire to 
do so, and such announcement shall constitute 
a prior right to the first vacancy. 



THe Laiivs of Aviction Bridge 207 

CUTTING OUT 

21. If, at the end of a rubber, admission is 
claimed by one or two candidates, the player or 
players having played the greatest number of 
consecutive rubbers shall withdraw; but when 
all have played the same number, they must 
cut to decide upon the outgoers; the highest 
are out. * 

RIGHT OF ENTRY 

22. A candidate desiring to enter a table 
must declare his intention before any player at 
the table cuts a card, whether for the purpose 
of beginning a new rubber or of cutting out. 

23 . In the formation of new tables candidates 
who have not played at any existing table have 
the prior right of entry. Others decide their 
right to admission by cutting. 

24. When one or more players belonging to 
an existing table aid in making up a new one, he 
or they shall be the last to cut out. 

25. A player who cuts into one table, while 
belonging to another, forfeits his prior right of 
re-entry into the latter, unless he has helped 
to form a new table. In this event he may 

* See Law 14 as to value of cards in cutting. 



2o8 TKe La^ws of A.\iction Bridge 

signify his intention of returning to his original 
table when his place at the new one can be filled. 

26. Should any player leave a table during 
the progress of a rubber, he may, with the con- 
sent of the three others, appoint a substitute to 
play during his absence; but such appointment 
shall become void upon the conclusion of the 
rubber, and shall not in any way affect the 
substitute's rights. 

2^, If any player break up a table the others 
have a prior right elsewhere. 

SHUFFLING 

28. The pack must not be shuffled below 
the table nor so that the face of any card may be 
seen. 

29. The dealer's partner must collect the 
cards from the preceding deal and has the right 
to shuffle first. Each player has the right to 
shuffle subsequently. The dealer has the right 
to shuffle last; but, should a card or cards be 
seen during his shuffling, or while giving the 
pack to be cut, he must reshuffle. 

30. After shuffling, the cards properly col- 
lected must be placed face downward to the 
left of the next dealer, where they must remain 
untouched until the play with the other pack is 
finished. 



TTHe La^ws of Aviction Bridge 209 

THE DEAL 

31. Each player deals in his turn; the order 
of dealing is to the left. 

32. The player on the dealer's right cuts the 
pack, and in dividing it he must leave not fewer 
than four cards in each packet; if in cutting or 
in replacing one of the two packets a card is 
exposed, or if there is any confusion or doubt 
as to the exact place in which the pack was 
divided, there must be a fresh cut. 

33. When the player whose duty it is to cut 
has once separated the pack, he can neither re- 
shuffle nor recut, except as provided in Law 32. 

34. Should the dealer shuffle the cards after 
the cut, the pack must be cut again. 

35. The fifty-two cards shall be dealt face 
downward. The deal is not completed until 
the last card has been dealt. 

36. In the event of a misdeal the cards must 
be dealt again by the same player. 

A NEW DEAL 

37. There must be a new deal: 

a If the cards are not dealt into four packets, one at a 
time and in regular rotation, beginning at the 
dealer's left; 
14 



2IO THe La^ws of Eviction Bridge 

b If, during a deal, or during the play, the pack is 

proven incorrect or imperfect; 
c If any card is faced in the pack or is exposed during 

the deal on, above, or below the table; 
d If any player has dealt to him a greater number of 

cards than thirteen, whether discovered before or 

during the play; 
e If the dealer deal two cards at once and then deal a 

third before correcting the error; 
/ If the dealer omit to have the pack cut and either 

adversary calls attention to the fact prior to the 

completion of the deal and before either adversary 

has looked at any of his cards; 
g If the last card does not come in its regular order to 

the dealer. 

38. Should three players have their right 
number of cards, the fourth, less, and not dis- 
cover such deficiency until he has played, the 
deal stands ; he, not being Dummy, is answerable 
for any established revoke he may have made as 
if the missing card or cards had been in his hand. 
Any player may search the other pack for it or 
them. 

39. If, during the play, a pack be proven 
incorrect, such proof renders the current deal 
void but does not affect any prior score. (See 
Law 37 b.) If during or at the conclusion of the 
play one player be found to hold more than the 
proper number of cards and another have an 
equal number less, the deal is void. 



THe Laws of Aviction Bridge 211 

40. A player dealing out of turn or with the 
adversaries' cards may be corrected before the 
last card is dealt, other\;\ase the deal must stand, 
and the game proceed as if the deal had been cor- 
rect, the player to his left dealing the next 
hand. A player who has looked at any of his 
cards may not correct such deal, nor may his 
partner. 

41 . A player can neither cut, shuffle, nor deal 
for his partner without the permission of his 
adversaries. 

DECLARING TRUMPS 

42. The dealer, having examined his hand, 
must declare to win at least one odd trick, either 
with a declared suit, or at "no trumps." 

43. After the dealer has made his declaration, 
each player in turn, commencing with the player 
on the dealer's left, has the right to pass, to make 
a higher declaration, to double the last declara- 
tion made, or to redouble a declaration which 
has been doubled, subject to the provisions of 
Law 54. 

44. A declaration of a greater number of 
tricks in a suit of lower value, which equals the 
last declaration in value of points, shall be con- 
sidered a higher declaration — e. g., a declaration 



212 TKe La-ws of A\iction Bridge 

of ''three spades'' is a higher declaration than 
"one club." 

45. A player in his turn may overbid the 
previous adverse declaration any number of 
times, and may also overbid his partner, but he 
cannot overbid his own declaration which has 
been passed by the three others. 

46. The player who makes the final decla- 
ration shall play the combined hands of himself 
and his partner (the latter becoming Dummy), 
unless the winning suit was first bid by the 
partner, in which case he, no matter what bids 
have intervened, shall play the hand. 

47. When the player of the two hands 
(hereinafter termed "the declarer") wins at 
least as many tricks as he declared, he scores 
the full value of the tricks won (see Laws 4 and 
6). When he fails, neither the declarer nor his 
adversaries score anything towards the game, 
but his adversaries score in the honor column 
fifty points for each under-trick — i. e., each trick 
short of the number declared ; or, if the declara- 
tion has been doubled, or redoubled, one hundred 
or two hundred respectively for each such trick. 

48. The loss on the original declaration by 
the dealer of "one spade" is limited to one 
hundred points whether doubled or not, unless 
redoubled. Honors are scored as held. 



TKe LaAvs of A.\iction Bridge 213 

49. If a pla3^er make a declaration (other 
than passing) out of turn, either adversary may 
demand a new deal, or may allow the declaration 
so made to stand, in which case the bidding 
shall continue as if the declaration had been in 
order. 

50. If a player make an insufficient or impos- 
sible declaration, either adversary may demand 
that it be penalized, provided such demand be 
made before an adversary has passed, doubled, 
or declared. In case of an insufficient declara- 
tion, the penalty is that the declarer must make 
his bid sufficient, and his partner is debarred from 
making any further declaration unless an adver- 
sary subsequently bids or doubles. In case of 
an impossible declaration, the penalty is that the 
declarer is considered to have bid to take all the 
tricks, and his partner cannot further declare 
unless an adversary subsequently bids or doubles. 
Either adversary, instead of accepting the impos- 
sible declaration, may demand a new deal or 
may treat his own or his partner's last previous 
declaration as final. 

51. If, after the final declaration has been 
made, an adversary of the declarer give his 
partner any information as to any previous 
declaration, whether made by himself or an 
adversary, the declarer may call a lead from the 



214 TKe La^ws of A\iction Bridge 

adversary whose next turn it is to lead; but a 
player is entitled to inquire, at any time during 
the play of the hand, what was the final decla- 
ration. 

52. A declaration legitimately made cannot 
be altered after the next player has passed, 
declared, or doubled. Prior to such action by 
the next player, a declaration inadvertently 
made may be corrected. 

DOUBLING AND REDOUBLING 

53. The effect of doubling and redoubling is 
that the value of each trick over six is doubled 
or quadrupled, as provided in Law 4; but it does 
not alter the value of a declaration — e. g., a 
declaration of ''three clubs" is higher than 
''two royal spades,'* even if the "royal spade" 
declaration has been doubled. 

54. Any declaration can be doubled and 
redoubled once, but not more; a player cannot 
double his partner's declaration, nor redouble 
his partner's double, but he may redouble a 
declaration of his partner which has been 
doubled by an adversary. 

55. The act of doubling, or redoubling, re- 
opens the bidding. When a declaration has been 
doubled or redoubled, any player, including the 



TKe Lai?vs of A\Jction Bridge 215 

declarer or his partner, can in his proper turn 
make a further declaration of higher value. 

56. When a player whose declaration has 
been doubled wins the declared number of tricks, 
he scores a bonus of fifty points in the honor 
column, and a further fifty points for each 
additional trick. If he or his partner has re- 
doubled, the bonus is doubled. 

57. If a player double out of turn, either 
adversary may demand a new deal. 

58. When the final declaration has been made 
the play shall begin, and the player on the left 
of the declarer shall lead. 

DUMMY 

59. As soon as the player to the left of the 
declarer has led, the declarer's partner shall 
place his cards face upward on the table, and the 
duty of playing the cards from that hand shall 
devolve upon the declarer. 

60. Before placing his cards upon the table 
the declarer's partner has all the rights of a 
player, but after so doing takes no part what- 
ever in the play, except that he has the right: 

a To ask the declarer whether he has any of a suit in 
which he has renounced; 



2i6 TKe La^ws of Axiction Bridge 

b To call the declarer's attention to the fact that too 

many or too few cards have been played to a trick ; 
c To correct the claim of either adversary to a penalty 

to which the latter is not entitled; 
d To call attention to the fact that a trick has been 

erroneously taken by either side; 
e To participate in the discussion of any disputed 

question of fact after it has arisen between the 

declarer and either adversary; 
/ To correct an erroneous score. 

6i. Should the declarer's partner call atten- 
tion to any other incident of the play in conse- 
quence of which any penalty might have been 
exacted, the declarer is precluded from exacting 
such penalty. 

62. If the declarer's partner, by touching a 
card or otherwise, suggest the play of a card from 
Dummy, either adversary may call upon the 
declarer to play or not play the card suggested. 

63. Dummy is not liable to the penalty for a 
revoke; if he revoke and the error be not dis- 
covered until the trick is turned and quitted, 
whether by the rightful winners or not, the trick 
must stand. 

64. A card from the declarer's own hand is 
not played until actually quitted ; but should he 
name or touch a card in the Dummy, such card is 
considered as played unless he, in touching the 
card, say, ''I arrange," or words to that effect. 



THe La\vs of A\iction Bridge 217 

If he simultaneously touch two or more such 
cards, he may elect which one to play. 

CARDS EXPOSED BEFORE PLAY 

65. If after the cards have been dealt and 
before the trump declaration has been finally 
determined, any player lead or expose a card, 
the partner of the offending player may not 
make any further bid or double during that hand, 
and the card is subject to call. When the 
partner of the offending player is the original 
leader, the declarer may prohibit the suit of the 
exposed card being the initial lead. 

66. If, after the final declaration has been 
made and before a card is led, the partner of the 
leader to the first trick expose a card, the de- 
clarer may, in addition to calling the card, pro- 
hibit the lead of the suit of the exposed card; 
should the rightful leader expose a card, it is 
subject to call. 

CARDS EXPOSED DURING PLAY 

67. All cards exposed after the original lead 
by the declarer's adversaries are liable to be 
called, and such cards must be left face upward 
on the table. 



2i8 TKe La-ws of Auction Bridge 

68. The following are exposed cards: 

1st. Two or more cards played at once; 

2d. Any card dropped with its face upward on the 

table, even though snatched up so quickly that 

it cannot be named; 
3d. Any card so held by a player that his partner sees 

any portion of its face; 
4th. Any card mentioned by either adversary as being 

held by him or his partner. 

69. A card dropped on the floor or elsewhere 
below the table or so held that an adversary but 
not the partner sees it, is not an exposed card. 

70. If two or more cards are played at once 
by either of the declarer's adversaries, the de- 
clarer shall have the right to call any one of such 
cards to the current trick, and the other card 
or cards are exposed. 

71. If, without waiting for his partner to 
play, either of the declarer's adversaries play 
or lead a winning card, as against the declarer 
and Dummy, and continue (without waiting for 
his partner to play) to lead several such cards, 
the declarer may demand that the partner of 
the player in fault win, if he can, the first or any 
other of these tricks, and the other cards thus 
improperly played are exposed cards. 

72. If either or both of the declarer's adver- 



THe La^vs of Auction Bridge 219 

saries throw his or their cards on the table face 
upward, such cards are exposed and are Hable 
to be called; but if either adversary retain his 
hand he cannot be forced to abandon it. Cards 
exposed by the declarer . are not liable to be 
called. If the declarer say, ''I have the rest," 
or any other words indicating that the remaining 
tricks or any number thereof are his, he may be 
required to place his cards face upward on the 
table. His adversaries are not liable to have 
any of their cards called should they thereupon 
expose them. 

73. If a player who has rendered himself 
liable to have the highest or lowest of a suit called 
(Laws 80, 86, and 92) fail to play as directed, or 
if when called on to lead one suit he lead another, 
having in his hand one or more cards of the suit 
demanded (Laws 76 and 93), or if, called upon to 
win or lose a trick, fail to do so when he can 
(Laws 71, 80, and 92), or if, when called upon not 
to play a suit, fail to play as directed (Laws 65 
and 66), he is liable to the penalty for revoke, 
unless such play be corrected before the trick 
is turned and quitted. 

74. A player cannot be compelled to play a 
card which would oblige him to revoke. 

75. The call of an exposed card may be 
repeated until such card has been played. 



220 TKe La^ws of Aviction Bridge 

LEADS OUT OF TURN 

76. If either of the declarer's adversaries 
lead out of turn, the declarer may either treat 
the card so led as an exposed card, or may call a 
suit as soon as it is the turn of either adversary 
to lead. 

77. If the declarer lead out of turn, either 
from his own hand or from Dummy, he incurs 
no penalty; but he may nor rectify the error 
after the second hand has played. 

78. If any player lead out of turn and the 
three others follow, the trick is complete and the 
error cannot be rectified ; but if only the second, 
or second and third play to the false lead, their 
cards may be taken back; there is no penalty 
against any except the original offender, who, 
if -he be one of the declarer's adversaries, may be 
penalized as provided in Law 76. 

79. If a player called on to lead a suit has 
none of it, the penalty is paid. 

CARDS PLAYED IN ERROR 

80. Should the fourth hand, not being 
Dummy or declarer, play before the second, the 
latter may be called upon to play his highest or 
lowest card of the suit played, or to win or lose 
the trick. 



TKe La^ws of A.\action Bridge 221 

81. If any one, not being Dummy, omit 
playing to a trick and such error is not corrected 
until he has played to the next, the adversaries 
or either of them may claim a new deal; should 
either decide that the deal is to stand, the surplus 
card at the end of the hand is considered to have 
been played to the imperfect trick, but does not 
constitute a revoke therein. 

82. When any one, except Dummy, plays 
two or more cards to the same trick and the 
mistake is not corrected, he is answerable for 
any consequent revokes he may have made. 
When during the play the error is detected, the 
tricks may be counted face downward, to see if 
any contain more than four cards; should this 
be the case, the trick which contains a surplus 
card or cards may be examined and the card or 
cards restored to the original holder, who (not 
being Dummy) shall be liable for any revoke he 
may meanwhile have made. 

THE REVOKE » 

83. A revoke occurs when a player, other 
than Dummy, holding one or more cards of the 
suit led, plays a card of a different suit. It 
becomes an established revoke if the trick in 

^ See Law 73. 



222 TKe La^ws of A\Jction Bridge 

which it occurs is turned and quitted by the 
rightful winners (i. e,, the hand removed from 
the trick after it has been turned face downward 
on the table) ; or if either the revoking player 
or his partner, whether in turn or otherwise, lead 
or play to the following trick. 

84. The penalty for each established revoke 
is: 

a When the declarer revokes, his adversaries add 150 
points to their score in the honor column, in ad- 
dition to any penalty which he may have incurred 
for not making good his declaration; 

b If either of the adversaries revoke, the declarer may 
either add 150 points to his score in the honor 
column, or may take three tricks from his oppo- 
nents and add them to his own. Such tricks may 
assist the declarer to make good his declaration, 
but shall not entitle him to score any bonus in the 
honor column, in the case of the declaration having 
been doubled or redoubled; 

c When more than one revoke is made by the same side 
during the play of the hand, the penalty for each 
revoke after the first shall be 100 points in the 
honor column. 

A revoking side cannot score, except for 
honors or chicane. 

85. A player may ask his partner if he has a 
card of the suit which he has renounced ; should 
the question be asked before the trick is turned 



XHe La^ws of A\iction Bridge 223 

and quitted, subsequent turning and quitting 
does not establish a revoke, and the error may 
be corrected unless the question is answered in 
the negative, or unless the revoking player or his 
partner has led or played to the following trick. 

86. If a player correct his mistake in time 
to save a revoke, any player or players who have 
followed him may withdraw their cards and sub- 
stitute others, and the cards so withdrawn are 
not exposed. If the player in fault is one of the 
declarer's adversaries, the card played in error is 
exposed and the declarer may call it whenever 
he pleases; or he may require the offender to 
play his highest or lowest card of the suit to the 
trick, but this penalty cannot be exacted from 
the declarer. 

87. At the end of a hand the claimants of a 
revoke may search all the tricks. If the cards 
have been mixed, the claim may be urged and 
proved if possible ; but no proof is necessary and 
the claim is established if, after it has been made, 
the accused player or his partner mix the cards 
before they have been sufficiently examined by 
the adversaries. 

88. A revoke must be claimed before the 
cards have been cut for the following deal. 

89. Should both sides revoke, the only score 
permitted shall be for honors in trumps or 



224 TTKe La^ws of A.\iction Bridj^e 

chicane. If one side revoke more than once, the 
penalty of loo points for each extra revoke shall 
then be scored by the other side. 

GENERAL RULES 

90. Once a trick is complete, turned and 
quitted, it must not be looked at (except under 
Law 82) until the end of the hand. 

91. Any player during the play of a trick 
or after the four cards are played, and before 
they are touched for the purpose of gathering 
them together, may demand that the cards be 
placed before their respective players. 

92. If either of the declarer's adversaries, 
prior to his partner playing, call attention to the 
trick, either by saying it is his, or, without 
being requested so to do, by naming his card or 
drawing it towards him, the declarer may re- 
quire such partner to play his highest or lowest 
card of the suit led, or to win or lose the trick. 

93. Either of the declarer's adversaries may 
call his partner's attention to the fact that he is 
about to play or lead out of turn ; but if, during 
the play of a hand, he make any unauthorized 
reference to any incident of the play, or of any 
bid previously made, the declarer may call a 
suit from the adversary whose turn it is next to 
lead. 



TKe La^vs of j\\iction Bridge 225 

94. In all cases where a penalty has been 
incurred the offender is bound to give reasonable 
time for the decision of his adversaries. 

NEW CARDS 

95. Unless a pack is imperfect, no player 
shall have the right to call for one new pack. 
If fresh cards are demanded, two packs must be 
furnished. If they are produced during a rubber, 
the adversaries shall have the choice of the new 
cards. If it is the beginning of a new rubber, 
the dealer, whether he or one of his adversaries 
is the party calling for the new cards, shall have 
the choice. New cards must be called for before 
the pack is cut for a new deal. 

96. A card or cards torn or marked must be 
replaced by agreement or new cards furnished. 

BYSTANDERS 

97. While a bystander, by agreement among 
the players, may decide any question, he should 
not say anything unless appealed to ; and if he 
make any remark which calls attention to an 
oversight affecting the score, or to the exaction 
of a penalty, he is liable to be called upon by 
the players to pay the stakes (not extras) lost. 

IS 



ETIQUETTE OF AUCTION BRIDGE 

In Auction Bridge slight intimations convey 
much information. A code is compiled for the 
purpose of succinctly stating laws and for fixing 
penalties for an offense. To offend against eti- 
quette is far more serious than to offend against 
a law; for, while in the latter case the offender 
is subject to the prescribed penalties, in the 
former his adversaries have no redress. 

1. Declarations should be made in a simple 
manner thus: ''one heart,'' "one no-trump,'' 
or '' I pass," or '' I double " ; they should be made 
orally and not by gesture. 

2. Aside from his legitimate declaration, a 
player should not give any indication by word 
or gesture as to the nature of his hand, or as to 
his pleasure or displeasure at a play, a bid, or a 
double. 

3. If a player demand that the cards be 
placed, he should do so for his own information 
and not to call his partner's attention to any 
card or play. 

4. No player, other than the declarer, should 

226 



E.tiq\xette of Aiiction Bridge 227 

lead until the preceding trick is turned and 
quitted; nor, after having led a winning card, 
should he draw another from his hand before his 
partner has played to the current trick. 

5. A player should not play a card with such 
emphasis as to draw attention to it; nor 
should he detach one card from his hand and 
subsequently play another. 

6. A player should not purposely incur a 
penalty because he is willing to pay it, nor 
should he make a second revoke to conceal a 
first. 

7. Players should avoid discussion and re- 
frain from talking during the play, as it may be 
annoying to players at the table or to those at 
other tables in the room. 

8. The Dummy should not leave his seat for 
the purpose of watching his partner's play, 
neither should he call attention to the score nor 
to any card or cards that he or the other players 
hold, nor to any bid previously made. 

9. If a player say "I have the rest,'' or any 
words indicating the remaining tricks are his, 
and one or both of the other players should 
expose his or their cards, or request him to play 
out the hand, he should not allow any information 
so obtained to influence his play nor take any 
finesse not announced by him at the time of 



228 Iltiq\iette of Auction Bridge 

making such claim, unless it had been previously 
proven to be a winner. 

10. If a player concede in error one or more 
tricks, the concession should stand. 

11. A player having been cut out of one table 
should not seek admission into another unless 
willing to cut for the privilege of entry. 

12. No player should look at any of his cards 
until the deal is completed. 



The Fine Points 

of 

Auction Bridge 

Together with an Exposition of 

The New Count 

By Florence Irwin 

16mo. $1.00 net. By mail, $1.10 



CONTENTS 

The Deal — The Score — Encouragement and 
Discouragement — ^The Book — The Phraseology 
— The Opening Bid — Subsequent Bids — The 
Double — Keeping the Flag Flying — The Play — 
Hints — A Warning against Over- Bidding — Rais- 
ing Your Partner's Bid — Losing Rubbers — A 
Condensed List of Bridge Laws — In Any De- 
clared Trump — Brilliancy vs. Solidity — In No- 
Trump — The New Count — Test Hands 1 to 1 6 
— Compass Auction — Team Auction and Tourna- 
ment Auction — The Laws of Auction Bridge — 
The Revoke — Other Penalties. 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York London 



The Fine Points of Auction Bridge 

There are many persons who have some 
knowledge of Auction Bridge, but who are per- 
fectly conscious that their game needs improving. 
It is for their use that this book is intended. It 
shows the practical workings of the game; gives 
a few terse rules to cover the situations that are 
constantly arising; answers the questions that 
seem still to be asked, after the reading of other 
books on the same subject; describes the various 
"schools" of play adopted by contending au- 
thorities (thus making it necessary to read one 
book only, instead of six or eight); and in 
short, bridges the chasm that yawns between fair 
Auction and excellent Auction. 

The author explains fully the NeW Count, 
This latest development of the game has sprung 
into immediate and universal popularity, and is 
sweeping the country like wildfire. It has given to 
Auction its one lacking touch — a perfect balance 
between red suits and black, — and has made it 
as nearly perfect a bidding-geune as it is possible 
to conceive. 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York London 



DEC 6 1912 



n,!,n,S.^.f!i^ OF CONGRESS 




.0 020 237 451 7 




